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THE  UNIVERSITY 

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OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 

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Prom  the   collection  of 
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THE 


LIFE  AND  ADVENTURES 


JOHN  MARSTON  HALL. 


by  the  author  of 

'  darnley,"  "  richelieu,"  "  henry  masterton, 
"mary  of  burgundy,"  &C. 


®5^o  bid  %\t\l  ist,  ist  starker  Sc1)attEn!" 

ejoct?  bon  aSetUc!)mgen. 


IN     TWO     VOLUMES. 

VOL.  I. 
NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED    BY    HARPER   &    BROTHERS, 

NO.     82     CLIPF-STREET, 

AND  SOLD  BY  THE  BOOKSELLERS  GENERALLY   THROUGHOUT    THB 

UNITED    STATES. 


1834. 


til 

V.  I 


TO 

HER  IMPERIAL  MAJESTY 

ALEXANDRA     FEODEROWNA, 

EMPRESS  OF  ALL   THE  RUSSIAS. 

Madam, 

I  SHOULD  have  confined  myself  to  expressing,  in 
terms  of  unfeigned  admiration  and  respect,  my  grati- 
tude for  the  interest  which  your  Imperial  Majesty  is 
pleased  to  take  in  the  literature  of  my  country,  and  in 
the  efforts  of  so  humble  an  individual  as  myself,  had  I 
not  felt  that  the  work  which  you  have  permitted  me  to 
inscribe  to  your  name  is  in  every  way  unworthy  of 
being  presented  to  one  alike  illustrious  by  talents  and 
virtues,  and  by  rank. 

At  the  time  that  your  Imperial  Majesty's  gracious 
message  was  communicated  to  me,  the  following 
pages  were  not  only  written,  but  in  press ;  and  my 
strong  desire  to  obey  your  commands  without  any  de- 
lay induces  me  to  dedicate  this  work  to  you,  although 
it  is  in  some  degree  connected  with  a  former  produc- 
tion, already,  I  beUeve,  in  your  Majesty's  possession. 

Under  other  circumstances,  I  might  have  laboured, 
though  I  certainly  should  have  laboured  in  vaiuj  to  pro* 


00949 


VI  DEDICATION. 

duce  a  work  worthy  of  your  acceptance ;  but  I  must 
then  have  delayed  long  what  I  was  eager  to  perform 
promptly ;  and,  most  assuredly,  nothing  that  I  could 
have  written  would  have  worthily  testified  the  admira- 
tion and  pleasure  with  which  I  have  marked,  from  afar, 
the  immense  efforts  of  yourself  and  your  Imperial  con- 
sort to  encourage  literature  and  science  in  your  domin- 
ions, and  to  improve  the  moral  and  social  condition  of 
your  subjects. 

That  those  efforts  may  be  crowned  with  the  most 
brilliant  success,  and  repay  you,  to  the  last  of  your  days, 
with  the  noblest  recompense  that  monarchs  can  re- 
ceive,— the  blessings  of  a  happy  and  enlightened  peo- 
ple,— is  the  sincere  prayer  of 

Your  Imperial  Majesty's 

most  humble 

and  most  obedient  Servant, 

George  Payne  Rainsford  James* 


THE 

ADVENTURES 

OF 

JOHN    MARSTON    HALL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

My  father  was  a  gentleman  of  small  estate  in  Lin- 
colnshire, whose  family  possessions,  under  a  race  of 
generous  ancestors,  had  dwindled  from  splendid  lord- 
ships to  bare  competence.  His  blood,  which  was  de- 
rived from  as  noble  a  source  as  that  of  any  in  the  land, 
had  come  down  to  him  pure  through  a  number  of 
knights  and  nobles,  who,  though  they  were  little  scru- 
pulous as  to  the  means  of  spending  their  riches,  were 
very  careful  not  to  augment  them  by  cultivating  any  but 
the  somewhat  barren  field  of  war.  He  made  a  love- 
match  with  a  daughter  of  the  second  Lord  Wilmerton ; 
and,  in  order  that  his  wife  might  not  draw  unpleasant 
comparisons  between  the  station  of  her  husband  and 
that  of  her  father,  he  frequented  the  court,  and  lived 
beyond  his  means.  He  was  already  in  difficulties  when 
I  was  born  ;  but,  like  a  brave  man,  he  resolved  to  meet 
them  boldly,  and,  after  some  solicitation,  obtained  a 
small  military  appointment,  which  increased  his  revenue 
without  adding  to  his  expenses.  Loyalty  with  him  was 
a  passion,  which,  like  love  in  other  men,  prevented 
him  from  seeing  any  faults  in  its  object ;  and,  of  course, 
as  the  court  well  knew  that  no  benefits  could  make  him 
more  loyal  than  he  already  was,  it  showered  its  favours 
upon  persons  whose  afl"ection  was  to  be  gained,  leaving 
him  to  struggle  on  without  further  notice. 


8  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

My  mother  I  hardly  remember,  though  my  memory 
is  very  good  ;  but  as  her  death  took  place  before  I  was 
three  years  of  age,  her  cares  of  my  infancy  were  never 
extended  even  to  my  boyhood. 

Left  thus  to  conduct  my  education  alone,  my  father, 
I  firmly  believe,  would  have  suffered  nothing  to  remain 
undone  which  could  have  contributed  to  render  me  a 
learned  man,  had  not  the  civil  war  broken  out,  and  all  the 
royalists  hastened  to  the  support  of  the  king.  Among  the 
first  of  the  volunteers  who  flocked  to  the  royal  standard, 
when  it  was  raised  at  Nottingham,  was  Captain  Hall ; 
and  having  been  sent  to  Worcester  with  Prince  Rupert, 
he  showed  himself  the  foremost  in  those  acts  of  daring 
courage  which  turned  the  contest  between  Colonel 
Sandys  and  the  prince  in  favour  of  the  Cavaliers.  In 
every  skirmish  and  in  every  battle  which  took  place 
throughout  the  course  of  the  great  rebellion,  my  father 
had  his  share.  The  natural  desire  of  stimulus  and  ex- 
citement, which  was  originally  strong  in  his  character, 
grew  gradually  into  a  habit,  and  from  a  habit  became  a 
passion.  The  tidings  of  an  approaching  conflict  would, 
at  any  time,  have  induced  him  to  ride  as  far  and  fast  as 
other  men  would  go  for  more  pacific  pastimes  ;  and  the 
commanders  of  the  royal  armies  perceived  a  want  in 
their  ranks  when,  on  looking  along  the  line,  they  could 
not  discover  the  face  of  Captain  John  Hall. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  civil  war  I  was  left  at 
home,  under  the  charge  of  my  nurse,  and  of  the  events 
of  that  period  I,  of  course,  remember  but  little.  But 
shortly  after  the  taking  of  Birmingham  by  Prince  Ru- 
pert, a  party  of  Gettes's  brigade  were  quartered  at  our 
house  for  three  days,  swept  the  whole  estate  of  every 
thing  that  it  produced,  carried  oflT  all  that  could  tempt 
their  rapacity,  and  on  their  departure  set  fire  to  the 
house,  as  that  of  a  notorious  malignant. 

My  father's  home  had  by  this  time  become  the  tented 
field.  Houseless  and  nearly  penniless,  the  nurse  carried 
me  away  in  search  of  my  only  surviving  parent,  whose 
regiment  was  quartered  at  a  few  miles'  distance  ;  and 
being  a  woman  who  loved  quiet,  and  hated  to  see  houses 
burned  over  her  head,  she  resigned  her  charge  of  me  as 
Boon  as  she  had  conscientiously  placed  me  in  the  hands 
of  my  natural  protector.  But  the  addition  of  a  child  of 
four  years  old  to  his  camp  equipage  was  not  by  any 
means  desirable  in  my  father's  eyes ;  and  for  some  time 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  9 

he  talked  of  placing  me  with  a  relation  here,  or  a  friend 
there,  where  I  might  remain  in  security.  Two  or  three 
months,  however,  fled  without  this  plan  being  executed. 
We  had  often  during  that  time  to  change  our  quarters  ; 
passed  through  more  than  one  adventure  ;  were  involved 
in  more  than  one  severe  struggle,  and  encountered  as 
many  hardships  as  a  longer  campaign  could  have  in- 
flicted. My  father  found  that  I  bore  up  stoutly  against 
them  all,  that  I  was  not  so  great  an  encumbrance,  in 
moments  of  danger  and  haste,  as  he  had  expected ;  and 
that  in  those  lapses  of  inaction  which  will  break  in  upon 
a  soldier's  life,  I  afforded  him  amusement  and  occupa- 
tion of  the  tenderest  and  most  engaging  kind.  Thus  I 
soon  became  necessary  to  his  comfort  and  his  happi- 
ness ;  and  though  he  would  often  talk  still  of  having 
me  placed  in  some  situation  where  I  could  be  properly 
instructed  in  arts  and  sciences,  and  learned  lore,  it  be- 
came evident  to  every  one  who  saw  us  together  that  he 
would  never  part  with  me  so  long  as  he  could  keep  me 
with  him.  To  make  up  for  the  want  of  other  knowledge, 
however,  he  himself  began,  from  my  very  earliest  years, 
to  teach  me  every  thing  that  might  render  me  successful 
in  that  way  of  life  which  he  himself  had  so  ardently 
embraced.  My  hands,  almost  in  infancy,  were  accus- 
tomed to  the  sword,  the  dag,  and  the  petronel ;  and  I 
remember,  ere  I  was  six  years  old,  being  permitted,  as 
a  high  favour,  to  apply  the  match  to  the  touch-hole  of  a 
culverin  that  commanded  a  road  by  which  the  Round- 
heads were  advancing. 

Many,  too,  were  the  dangers  through  which  I  passed 
in  safety.  Often  in  times  of  surprise  and  confusion 
have  I  sat  upon  the  peak  of  my  father's  saddle,  while 
he  cut  his  way  through  the  enemy ;  and  often  have  I 
stood  as  a  mere  child  amid  the  charging  squadrons  and 
the  bristling  pikes  of  a  general  field  of  battle.  Strife 
and  bloodshed  became  so  familiar  to  my  mind  that  I 
could  hardly  conceive  another  state  of  things;  and 
when  any  occasional  pause  took  place  in  the  dreadful 
struggle  that  then  desolated  our  native  land,  I  used  to 
wonder  at  the  space  of  time  such  idleness  was  sufl'ered 
to  continue,  and  to  long  for  the  moment  of  activity  and 
exertion.  It  was  with  joy  and  satisfaction  that  my 
father  beheld  this  disposition  in  his  son,  and  he  strove 
by  every  means  in  his  power  to  promote  its  growth,  and 
to  direct  the  eff'orts  that  it  prompted.  He  taught  me  to 
A3 


10  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

be  quick  and  decisive,  as  well  as  bold  and  fearless  :  he 
bade  me  always  think,  in  the  first  place,  what  was  best 
to  be  done,  and  how  it  might  best  be  executed ;  and  then 
to  perform  what  my  reason  had  suggested  without 
either  fear  or  hesitation.  Always  keeping  his  view 
fixed  upon  the  ultimate  advantage  of  the  cause  he  had 
espoused,  he  zealously  instructed  me  to  remark  and  re- 
member every  part  of  the  country  through  which  we 
passed  in  our  wandering  life,  and  the  person  of  every- 
one who  was  brought  into  temporary  connexion  with 
us  in  the  changing  fortunes  of  those  adventurous  times. 

Besides  teaching  me  to  ride  and  to  shoot,  and  to  per- 
form all  other  military  exercises,  he  did  not  fail  to  give 
me  what  little  education,  of  a  milder  kind,  circumstances 
permitted,  during  the  short  lapses  of  tranquillity  which 
occasionally  intervened.  He  was  himself,  however, 
obliged  to  be  my  preceptor;  for  he  was  not  only  pre- 
vented from  engaging  any  other  person  in  that  capacity, 
by  our  continual  changes  from  place  to  place,  but  he 
was  also  rendered  unable  to  do  so  by  his  pecuniary  cir- 
cumstances, which  had  by  this  time  been  reduced  to  the 
lowest  ebb.  Our  own  property  had  been  sequestrated : 
the  king  had  no  money  to  bestow  ;  and  although  Cap- 
tain Hall  sometimes  enjoyed  a  moment  of  temporary 
prosperity,  after  squeezing  some  rich  parliamentarian, 
or  capturing  some  inimical  town,  his  whole  property 
more  usually  consisted  in  his  horse,  his  sword,  and  his 
son.  I  acquired,  it  is  true,  in  a  desultory  manner,  some 
knowledge  of  history,  geography,  and  arithmetic  ;  but 
this,  together  with  a  smattering  of  Latin,  and  the  capa- 
bility of  writing  and  reading,  was  all  that  I  could  boast 
of  by  the  time  I  was  ten  years  old. 

Our  moments  of  quiet,  indeed,  were  always  of  very 
short  duration;  and,  during  all  my  early  remembrances, 
I  scarcely  can  recollect  having  passed  six  weeks  without 
seeing  blood  flow  in  civil  strife. 

It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  that  our  state  was 
melancholy  or  painful.  To  those  who  thought  as  little 
of  human  life  as  the  persons  did  by  whom  I  was  gener- 
ally surrounded,  this  kind  of  existence  was  gay  and 
happy  enough.  When  they  saw  a  comrade  sent  to  his 
long  home,  or  a  friend  fall  dead  by  their  side,  a  minute's 
mournmg,  and  a  vow  to  revenge  him,  were  all  that  the 
sight  excited;  and  many  a  cheerful  bowl  and  gay  jest 
would  circulate  in  the  evening  among  the  Cavaliers  who 


JOHN    MARS  TON   HALL.  11 

had  lost,  in  the  morning,  the  dearest  acquaintances  and 
oldest,  companions. 

Habit  is  a  wonderful  thing ;  and  it  would  be  difficult 
to  make  other  people  comprehend  how  little  emotion 
bloodshed  or  massacre  produces  in  the  minds  of  men 
accustomed  to  be  daily  spectators  of  such  scenes.  It 
is  not  at  all  surprising,  then,  that  a  boy — born,  as  it  were, 
and  brought  up  in  the  midst  of  them — should  feel  their 
awful  nature  less  than  others,  and  should  enter  with 
more  pleasure  into  the  adventurous  excitement  which 
they  certainly  afford.  Such,  at  all  events,  was  the  case 
with  myself ;  and  although  I  have  learned,  from  after- 
events,  to  believe  that  my  heart  was  neither  naturally 
hard  nor  cruel,  yet  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  describe 
the  joy  and  enthusiasm  I  experienced  on  the  approach 
of  strife  or  battle,  the  triumph  that  1  felt  at  the  over- 
throw or  death  of  any  remarkable  foe,  or  the  careless 
disregard  with  which  I  viewed  the  slaughter  of  my 
countrymen,  and  the  fall  even  of  those  I  personally 
knew.  This  military  zeal  was  known  and  remarked  by 
all  my  father's  comrades  ;  and  the  amusement  and  grati- 
fication which  they  derived  from  my  early  passion  for 
that  course  of  life  to  which  they  had  given  themselves 
up  at  a  more  mature  age,  caused  me  to  be  a  general 
favourite  with  every  old  soldier  in  the  ranks  of  the  roy- 
alists ;  so  that  each  one  vied  with  the  other  in  exciting 
me  more  and  more  upon  the  very  track  which  I  was 
already  too  eager  to  pursue.  Among  the  Cavaliers  I 
was  generally  known  by  the  name  of  "  Little  Ball-o.'- 
Fire,"  and  I  soon  learned  to  be  proud  of  that  appellation, 
and  vexed  when  I  was  addressed  by  any  other.  In 
times  of  prosperity  I  was  loaded  with  presents  and 
caresses ;  and  in  moments  of  defeat  and  danger  th«re 
was  still  some  one  to  think  of  and  to  protect  Little  Ball- 
o'-Fire,  the  soldier's  son.  Nor  were  these  good  deeds 
entirely  without  requital  on  my  part ;  for,  shrewd,  ac- 
tive, and  fearless,  I  was  often  enabled  to  assist  the  de- 
feated or  pursued  Cavalier,  to  mislead  the  Parliament- 
arian by  false  information,  or  to  gain  intelligence  of  the 
enemy's  movements,  and  to  guide  my  friends  either  to 
security  or  victory. 

Among  all  the  comrades  and  connexions  of  my  father, 
Goring,  afterward  Lord  Norwich,  was  the  foremost  in 
his  affections ;  and  with  him  also  I  was  an  infinite  favour- 
ite, although  there  were  several  others  to  whom  I  was 


12  THE    ADVENTURES   OF 

personally  more  attached.  I  remember,  however,  many 
instances  of  great  favour  received  from  him ;  and  a& 
difficulties  multiplied  round  the  royal  cause,  and  as  dan- 
gers threatened  more  and  more  imminently  the  head  of 
our  sovereign,  it  was  to  the  exertions  and  friendship  of 
Lord  Goring  that  we  were,  more  than  once,  indebted 
for  our  existence.  With  him  we  served  in  many  a 
campaign  in  Kent  and  Sussex ;  with  him  have  I  aided 
my  father  to  empty  many  a  flagon  when  the  fight  was 
over ;  and  with  him  have  we  lain  in  concealment  for 
weeks  together,  when  our  paths  were  surrounded  by 
enemies  against  whom  our  force  was  too  weak  to 
contend. 

At  length,  when  I  was  little  more  than  ten  years  old, 
and  a  momentary  gleam  of  success  brightened  the  cause 
of  the  Cavaliers,  my  father  and  Lord  Goring  unfortu- 
nately separated,  and  with  a  small  but  well-appointed 
troop  we  hastened  across  the  country  with  the  intention 
of  joining  the  royal  army,  which  was  then  marching 
towards  Cornwall.  At  Bolton-le-Moors,  however,  while 
we  were  marching  gayly  along,  without  the  slightest 
idea  that  there  was  an  enemy  in  our  neighbourhood,  we 
were  suddenly  surprised  by  a  party  of  the  parliament- 
arian forces ;  and  after  a  rapid  but  desperate  struggle, 
every  man  of  my  father's  troop  was  put  to  death.  He 
himself  fell  among  the  last,  brought  from  his  horse  to 
the  ground  by  a  ball  through  the  neck.  I  was  at  the 
distance  of  about  fifty  yards  from  him,  and  hastened  up 
to  give  him  aid ;  but  just  as  I  was  running  forward,  I 
saw  one  of  the  pikemen  stoop  over  him,  and  while  my 
father  held  up  his  hand,  in  the  vain  endeavour  to  ward 
off  the  blow,  the  man  drove  his  weapon  through  him^ 
and  pinned  him  to  the  ground.  I  had  a  large  horse- 
pistol  in  my  hand,  which  was  instantly  directed  to  the 
pikeman's  head  ;  and,  had  I  but  had  time  to  discharge 
it,  he  would,  most  assuredly,  have  lain  beside  the  gallant 
officer  he  had  just  killed.  But,  at  that  moment,  one  of 
his  comrades  struck  me  across  the  head  with  the  staff 
of  his  pike,  crying,  "  So  much  for  thee,  young  viper !" 
and  brought  me,  stunned  and  powerless,  to  the  ground. 

Fortunate  it  was  for  me  that  the  blow,  without  being 
sufficiently  violent  to  bereave  me  of  life,  had  been  severe 
enough  to  deprive  me  of  all  sense  or  motion,  for  I  was 
thus  passed  over  as  dead,  and  I  found  afterward  that  no 
one  had  been  taken  to  mercy  by  the  victors.    It  was 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  1$ 

evening  when  we  began  a  fight,  which,  in  duration,  did 
not  last  ten  minutes  ;  but  when  I  woke  from  the  sort  of 
sleep  into  which  I  had  fallen,  I  found  the  moon  shining 
bright  upon  the  Moors,  with  my  father  and  five-and- 
twenty  gallant  soldiers  lying  dead  around  me.  In  truth, 
this  was  the  first  everjt  that  ever  made  me  think  of 
death,  even  for  a  moment,  as  of  a  thing  to  be  feared,  or 
regard  strife  as  the  great  destroyer  of  all  dear  affections 
and  kindred  ties.  The  sight  was  horrible  enough;  to 
see  the  bodies  of  such  a  number  of  brave  and  noble- 
hearted  men  now  cold,  inanimate,  and  most  of  them 
stripped  of  every  thing  valuable,  lying  dead  in  the  pale 
moonlight,  with  their  faces  bearing  all  the  various  ex- 
pressions which  the  human  countenance  can  assume 
under  different  modes  of  violent  death  ;  but  it  was  the 
sight  of  my  father's  corpse  which  brought  it  home  to  my 
own  heart. 

When  I  had  recovered  my  senses  completely — which 
was  not  for  several  minutes  after  consciousness  began 
to  return — I  crept  onward  to  the  spot  where  my  father 
had  fallen,  which  was  not  above  ten  paces  from  that  on 
which  I  had  been  lying;  and  as  I  gazed  on  his  still, 
silent  face,  and  thought  of  all  the  aff'ection  towards  my- 
self which  I  had  seen  it  bear  so  often,  I  could  not  help 
feeUng  that  death  is  indeed  a  horrible  thing.  I  looked 
at  it  long,  till  the  moon  began  to  go  down,  and  I  knew 
not  well  what  to  do.  I  had  no  means  of  burying  the 
body,  and  yet  there  was  a  feeling  in  my  bosom,  not  to 
be  defined,  which  would  not  let  me  leave  the  corpse  of 
my  father  uninterred,  for  the  ravens  to  make  it  their 
prey,  or  the  dogs  to  mangle  it. 

Near  the  spot,  however,  there  was  a  little  copse, 
with  some  tall  trees  rising  out  of  the  brushwood ;  and, 
after  many  a  painful  thought,  thither  I  retreated  for 
shelter.  As  I  knew  not  who  might  visit  the  field  from 
the  town,  and  as  I  had  heard  that  the  people  of  the 
neighbourhood  were  rank  Roundheads,  I  thought  it  best 
to  climb  one  of  the  oaks ;  and  there  I  watched  till  the 
dawn  of  morning.  Hardly  was  the  sky  gray  with  the 
first  light  when  I  saw  six  or  seven  people  coming  over 
the  downs  with  spades  and  shovels,  and  I  soon  found 
that  their  purpose  was  to  bury  the  dead.  By  them  that 
office  was  performed  decently  enough  on  the  spot 
itself ;  and  in  about  three  or  four  hours  it  was  all  over, 
leaving  no  trace  of  the  skirmish,  but  the  turf  beaten  up 


14  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

by  the  horses'  feet,  and  here  and  there  died  with  gore, 
and  the  long  low  mound  of  fresh  earth  which  covered 
the  trench  containing  the  dead  bodies.  I  found,  by  the 
conversation  of  the  men  employed,  that  this  act  of 
charity  had  been  performed  by  order  of  some  persons 
in  the  little  town  who  had  witnessed  the  affair ;  and 
who,  partly  moved  by  a  sense  of  decency,  and  partly 
with  a  view  to  salubrity,  had  caused  the  corpses  to  be 
thus  covered  over  with  earth. 

I  was  now,  like  many  another,  alone  in  all  the  earth ; 
without  friends,  or  home,  or  resource  ;  without  money, 
or  protection,  or  expectation  ;  but  perhaps  I  was  better 
fitted  for  such  circumstances  than  any  one  who  was 
ever  yet  cast  an  orphan  upon  the  world.  I  was  accus- 
tomed to  rely  upon  myself  alone ;  to  take  every  event 
as  1  found  it ;  and  I  had  been  so  long  in  the  habit  of 
seeing  the  sunshine  and  the  shade,  the  defeat  and  the 
triumph,  the  disaster  and  the  success,  succeed  each 
other  like  April  clouds  and  beams,  that  though  my 
heart  was  full  of  mourning  for  my  father,  yet  I  con- 
fidently anticipated  that  the  next  cast  of  the  die  in  for- 
tune's hand  would  reverse  my  fate,  and  bring  me  back 
to  prosperity  again. 

I  was  mistaken,  however.  A  long  series  of  suffer- 
ings ensued  ;  and  they  were  sufferings  of  a  nature  that 
I  had  never  encountered  before.  I  had  often,  indeed, 
undergone  privation,  and  known  poverty.  1  had  often 
been  more  than  one  day  without  tasting  food,  and  had 
slept  for  many  a  night  together  on  the  bare  ground  ; 
but  all  these  inconveniences  were  part  of  the  soldier's 
fate, — matters  which,  however  unpleasant  at  the  time, 
were  laughed  at  and  forgotten  as  soon  as  they  were 
over.  Now,  however,  I  had  to  endure  poverty  without 
one  alleviating  circumstance,  or  one  consoling  re- 
flection. 

All  that  I  had  on  earth,  at  the  moment  my  father 
was  slain,  consisted  of  two  crown-pieces,  which  had 
been  given  me  by  Lord  Goring  when  we  parted ;  but 
when  I  came  to  seek  for  them,  after  recovering  my 
senses,  I  found  that  they  had  not  escaped  the  researches 
of  the  plunderers  who  had  stripped  the  dead  around  me. 
My  clothes,  indeed,  being  probably  of  little  value  either 
in  point  of  size  or  quality,  had  been  left  me  ;  and  these, 
wi*h  a  pistol  and  a  dagger,  which  1  found  upon  tho 
ground,  constituted  my  whole  property,  when  at  length 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  If 

1  left  the  earth  that  contained  the  body  of  my  unfor- 
tunate parent,  and  went  forth  again  into  the  world. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  give  any  detailed  account  of 
the  hfe  I  now  led.  I  wandered  over  almost  every  part 
of  England,  seeking  a  precarious  subsistence  by  every 
means  that  my  habits  and  education  permitted.  Often 
I  fell  in  with  old  comrades  of  my  father ;  and  then  I 
was  sure  of  protection  and  assistance  as  long  as  they 
had  the  means  of  affording  it.  Often  I  joined  myself 
to  a  troop  of  Cavaliers,  and  for  a  few  days  lived  the  hfe 
to  which  I  had  been  accustomed  in  former  years.  But 
the  power  of  the  Parliament  was  daily  increasing,  that 
of  the  king  daily  going  down ;  and,  one  by  one,  every 
force  to  which  I  joined  myself  was  dispersed,  and  I  was 
again  obliged  to  seek  my  way  alone.  I  never,  how- 
ever, yielded  for  one  moment  to  despair  ;  and  at  times, 
— when  I  have  shared  in  the  stores  provided  by  nature 
for  the  birds  in  the  air,  when  my  sole  food  has  been 
haws  and  whortleberries,  roots  and  acorns, — I  have 
hummed  to  myself 

"  There^s  a  better  time  coming !" 

and  gone  on  with  a  light  heart  to  seek  a  richer  meal  for 
the  next  day. 

Although  to  plunder  or  to  kill  a  Roundhead,  in  any 
way  that  chance  happened  to  present,  was  in  my  mind, 
at  that  time,  neither  sin  nor  shame,  yet  I  cannot  remem- 
ber ever  having  done  what  I  should  even  now  consider 
an  evil  act  on  my  own  account.  Nevertheless,  I  must 
acknowledge,  that  when  a  wounded  or  a  fugitive  com- 
panion wanted  food  or  other  necessaries,  and  could  not 
obtain  them  for  himself,  1  have  often  ventured  beyond 
any  code  of  moraUty  that  I  know  of,  and  have  gone 
down  to  spoil  the  Philistines  with  indescribable  glee. 

Well  known  to  every  leader  in  the  royal  cause,  and 
almost  to  every  soldier,  I  was  often  employed  as  a  guide, 
and  still  more  frequently  as  a  messenger.  In  the  latter 
capacity,  indeed,  1  was  generally  successful,  even  where 
others  would  probably  have  failed ;  and  when  Langdale 
rose  in  Wales  he  intrusted  his  design  to  me,  for  the 
purpose  of  having  it  clearly  communicated  to  Musgrave 
in  the  north,  and  to  the  Cavaliers  in  Kent.  I  received 
no  written  document,  indeed,  although  my  youth  and 
my  knowledge  of  the  country  enabled  me,  in  general,  to 
pass  unmolested:  but  Langdale  knew  that  he  could 


16  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

trust  to  my  never-failing  memory  to  repeat  every  word 
as  he  had  spoken  it ;  and  was  also  aware  that  the  other 
royalists  would  trust  to  my  report. 

This  commission  I  executed  with  ease  and  safety,  as 
far  as  my  journey  to  the  north  went ;  but  in  making  my 
way  towards  Kent,  1  encountered  more  difficulties  and 
some  dangers.  The  small  stock  of  money  with  which 
I  had  been  furnished  failed  me  before  the  object  was 
accomplished ;  and  at  Reading  I  was  recognised  by  a 
Puritan  whom  I  had  once,  about  six  months  before, 
tripped  up  into  a  river,  while  I  ran  oif  with  a  fat  baked 
pig,  which  he  was  carrying  out  of  the  town  from  the 
baker's  oven.  Of  the  pig  my  share  had  been  small, 
having  performed  the  feat  in  favour  of  three  old  com- 
rades who  were  lying  concealed  in  the  neighbouring 
fields,  and  were  half-dying  of  hunger :  but,  in  the  present 
case,  the  Roundhead  made  no  nice  distinctions  ;  and  as 
soon  as  he  set  eyes  upon  me,  caught  me  by  the  throat, 
conveyed  me  to  the  town-prison,  notwithstanding  my 
most  vigorous  resistance,  and  left  me  in  the  hands  of  a 
jailer,  whose  tokens  of  affection  remained  upon  my 
skin  for  several  weeks  afterward.  Not  at  all  admiring 
my  fare  or  treatment  in  the  prison,  and  having  also  ac- 
quired a  strong  distaste  to  remaining  long  in  any  one 
place,  the  very  first  opportunity  afforded  by  open  doors 
I  made  my  escape, — not  unpursued,  it  is  true  ;  but  that 
mattered  little  :  for  at  that  time  it  was  only  necessary 
to  give  me  the  free  use  of  my  limbs  and  a  start  of  ten 
paces,  and  the  man  would  have  been  swift  and  strong 
indeed  that  could  have  overtaken  me. 

Several  other  adventures  also  befell  me  :  but  at  length 
I  made  my  way  into  Kent ;  and  here,  to  my  unspeakable 
joy,  I  found  myself  among  a  royalist  population,  and 
saw  in  every  part  of  the  county  preparations  for  a  great 
effort  in  favour  of  the  king.  I  heard,  in  every  quarter, 
too,  that  Lord  Goring  was  to  take  the  command  of  the 
forces ;  and,  sure  of  receiving  protection  and  assistance, 
I  made  my  way  forward  to  join  him,  with  a  feeling  in 
my  heart  that  a  change  was  about  to  come  over  my 
fate.  I  was  half-starved  by  this  time,  and  was  all  in 
rags  ;  but  many  a  better  Cavalier  than  myself  was  in 
the  same  state,  and  I  did  not  fear  that  my  father's  old 
friend  would  deny  me. 

Before  I  could  reach  the  army,  however,  the  royalist 
force  had  advanced  towards  London,  and  were  again  in 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  17 

retreat ;  and  when  I  arrived  in  Maidstone,  I  found  the 
Cavaliers  pouring  in,  and  learned  that  the  enemy  were 
following  fast  upon  their  steps.  During  the  whole  of 
that  evening  I  could  not  find  Lord  Goring  (who,  by-the- 
way,  had  before  this  become  Earl  of  Norwich),  but  I 
met  with  many  an  old  acquaintance  among  the  officers, 
and  every  kindness  was  shown  to  the  son  of  Captain 
Hall.  As  an  attack  was  expected  early  the  next  morn- 
ing, the  troops  were  under  arms  before  dawn ;  and  as 
the  earl  was  riding  along  the  line,  I  ran  up  to  the  side 
of  his  horse,  and  spoke  to  him.  For  a  moment,  in  the 
rags  that  now  covered  me,  he  did  not  recognise  his 
friend's  child,  and  replied  sharply,  "  Get  along,  boy  !  get 
along  !  I  cannot  speak  to  thee  now  !" 

It  was  the  first  rebuff  I  had  ever  received  from  a 
Cavalier,  and  I  thought  that  my  heart  would  have 
broken ;  but  I  still  clung  to  his  stirrup,  and  said,  "  What, 
my  lord,  have  you  forgotten  little  Ball-o'-Fire  1"  At 
that  name  he  drew  in  his  rein  short,  gazed  upon  my  face 
for  a  moment,  and  then  stooping  down  over  his  saddle- 
bow, he  caught  me  in  his  arms,  and  lifted  me  quite  up  to 
his  bosom.  "  Forget  thee !  no,  my  boy !  no  !"  he  cried ; 
"  and  now  I  have  found  thee  again,  thou  shalt  never 
quit  me,  for  thy  good  father's  sake." 

There  was  little  time  given  for  further  conversation. 
The  enemy  had  been  more  on  the  alert  than  we  ex- 
pected, and  were  by  this  time  rapidly  advancing,  and  the 
shot  of  their  artillery  began  to  tell  upon  our  line.  Every 
one  has  heard  of  the  gallant  defence  of  Maidstone  :  but 
it  soon  became  clear  that  we  could  not  maintain  the 
position  in  which  we  were  first  attacked;  and  Lord 
Goring,  who  had  laid  out  his  plan  the  night  before,  or- 
dered a  slow  and  firm  retreat  to  the  ground  he  had  fixed 
upon,  at  the  back  of  the  town.  Before  he  left  the 
green,  however,  he  beckoned  me  up,  and  gave  me  a  scrap 
of  paper,  on  which  he  had  written  something  hastily. 
"  Get  thee  behind  that  house,  Ball-o'-Fire,"  he  said, 
*'  and  wait  there  till  you  see  a  young  gentleman  come 
up  with  a  troop  of  Cavaliers.  Ask  if  he  be  Colonel  Mas- 
terton  :  give  him  that  paper,  and  then  guide  him  down 
by  the  back  of  the  town  to  the  hollow  way,  by  which 
the  enemy  must  advance  :  take  him  to  any  point  he  can , 
best  cut  his  way  through,  and  bring  him  to  me,  on  the  ' 
edge  of  yon  hill." 

I  did  as  I  was  bid ;  and  Lord  Goring  himself  remained 


18  THE    ADfENTURES    OF 

for  about  ten  minutes  longer  with  the  Kentish  horse, 
keeping  the  green  firmly  against  the  enemy,  while  the 
other  regiments  filed  off,  and  took  up  their  position  on 
the  slope  beyond.  At  length,  he  too  retreated;  and  I 
hid  myself  while  the  enemy  passed  over  the  same 
ground.  Scarcely  was  the  green  clear,  when  up  at  the 
full  gallop  came  a  young  gentleman,  seemingly  scarcely 
twenty,  with  as  gallant  a  regiment  of  horse  as  ever  I 
saw.  He  halted  his  men  before  "  The  Bush"  alehouse, 
and  then  rode  on  a  few  yards  to  see  what  was  passing 
in  the  hollow  way  and  on  the  slope. 

His  countenance  was  a  pleasant  one,  at  least  to  me, 
with  a  broad  open  brow,  and  quick  fine  eyes ;  and 
although  I  saw  by  the  manner  in  which  he  looked  at 
some  dead  and  wounded  soldiers  who  were  scattered 
here  and  there,  that  he  was  not  so  habituated  to  scenes 
of  death  and  conflict  as  myself,  yet  I  could  not  help 
thinking  that  he  must  be  the  Colonel  Masterton  to  whom 
I  was  ordered  to  adaress  myself.  I  watched  him  for  a 
minute,  as  his  keen  rapid  glance  ran  over  the  confused 
spectacle  that  was  passing  beyond  the  town ;  and  as  I 
saw  him  turn  his  horse,  and  ride  back  towards  his  men, 
I  ran  up  and  spoke  to  him.  At  first  he  did  not  distinctly 
hear  what  I  said,  but  he  bent  down  his  head  towards  me 
with  a  good-humoured  smile,  and  I  again  repeated  the 
words,  "  Colonel  Masterton." 

"  Well,  my  little  man,"  he  replied,  with  a  look  of  sur- 
prise, "  what  is  if?" 

I  saw  at  once,  from  his  tone  and  his  look,  that  I  was 
right,  and  I  gave  him  the  billet  from  Lord  Norwich. 
He  read  it  attentively  ;  and  then  asked,  "  Can  you  lead 
me  by  some  by-path  to  the  left  of  the  enemy's  line  ?" 
I  answered  that  I  could  ;  and,  without  more  ado,  set  off 
before  him,  and  conducted  him  by  the  back  streets  to  a 
point  where  a  lime  road  led  out  into  the  country. 

The  moment  that  his  eye  gained  a  clear  sight  of  the 
enemy,  I  observed  it  mark  every  part  of  their  position, 
rest  fixed  on  one  particular  spot  for  an  instant  longer 
than  anywhere  else  ;  and  I  saw  that  God  had  made  him 
a  soldier.  His  plan  was  evidently  formed  ;  his  orders 
were  short,  clear,  and  accurate  ;  and,  drawing  out  his 
regiment  from  the  town,  he  charged  a  large  body  of 
cavalry,  who,  together  with  some  pieces  of  artillery,  lay 
upon  the  extreme  left  of  the  enemy's  line,  and  in  a  mcb' 
ment  drove  them  to  the  devil. 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  19 

I  ran  on  as  hard  as  I  could  to  see  what  was  going  for- 
ward, and,  just  as  I  came  up,  I  found  the  Roundhead 
horse  forced  back  into  the  lines  of  the  pikemen  ;  and, 
one  of  the  first  faces  that  1  beheld,  among  the  Parliamen- 
tarian foot,  was  that  of  the  man  who  had  killed  my  father. 
I  never  forget  faces,  and  his  I  was  not  likely  to  forget. 
The  fellow  was  pike  in  hand,  in  front  of  the  young  Cava- 
lier ;  and  I  had  just  time  to  mark  him  so  as  not  to  be 
mistaken,  when  Colonel  Masterton's  horse  passed  the 
pike,  and  at  one  blow  of  the  rider's  sword  the  Roundhead 
went  down  never  to  rise  again. 

The  battle  was  like  all  other  battles  ;  but  by  one 
means  or  another  1  contrived  to  keep  near  Colonel  Mas- 
terton's regiment  through  the  whole  affair,  till  just  when 
they  were  in  some  difficulty  I  offered  to  guide  them  up 
the  lime  road  to  Lord  Goring,  if  one  of  the  men  would 
take  me  behind  him  on  his  horse.  The  young  gentle- 
man seemed  surprised  to  find  me  so  near  him  ;  and  after 
another  charge  upon  a  body  of  the  London  troopers,  we 
made  our  way  forward,  and  reached  the  brow  of  the  hill 
where  the  commander-in-chief  then  stood. 

The  event  of  that  day  every  one  knows.  The  enemy 
were  repulsed  at  all  points,  but  it  could  hardly  be  con- 
sidered as  a  battle  won,  for  we  were  ultimately  obliged 
to  retreat.  After  a  long,  severe  march  we  halted  for 
the  night,  and  I  remained  quartered  with  Colonel  Mas- 
terton  and  his  regiment,  and  was  treated  with  the 
greatest  kindness  both  by  officers  and  men.  It  was 
soon  found  that  the  army,  being  chiefly  composed  of 
raw  and  ill-disciplined  troops,  could  not  be  held  together ; 
and  the  same  night  Colonel  Masterton  was  ordered  to 
lead  his  regiment  towards  the  right  of  the  enemy's  line 
of  advance,  and,  if  possible,  to  effect  a  diversion,  while 
Lord  Goring,  with  whatever  veteran  troops  could  be 
collected,  endeavoured  to  cross  the  country,  and  throw 
himself  into  Colchester.  After  having  attacked  an  out- 
post against  which  he  was  particularly  directed,  the 
young  officer  was  ordered  to  disband  a  foot  regiment 
which  was  joined  to  his  cavalry  force;  and  then — 
making  the  best  of  his  way  back  to  Devonshire,  whence 
he  had  come — to  disperse  his  men,  and  keep  quiet  till 
better  times.  As  his  family,  from  particular  circum- 
stances, although  attached  to  the  royal  cause,  had  not 
called  upon  themselves  the  indignation  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, in  near  so  high  a  degree  as  it  had  been  excited 


20  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

against  Lord  Goring,  that  nobleman,  on  giving  me  to 
Colonel  Masterton  as  a  guide,  made  him  promise  that 
he  would  always  protect  and  never  abandon  me ;  and 
well  did  he  keep  his  word. 


CHAPTERS  II.  III.  IV.  V.  VI.* 

*  #  #  «  * 

***** 

■*  The  above  chapters  are  omitted  by  the  editor  of  this  work, 
inasmuch  as  every  fact  contained  in  them  is  to  be  found  much 
more  fully  detailed  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  Henry  Masterton,  Lord 
Masterton ;"  and  it  may  be  only  necessary  to  add,  for  the  infor- 
mation of  such  persons  as  are  unfortunate  enough  not  to  have 
read  that  work,  that  Lord  Masterton  was  accompanied  through 
all  the  adventures  therein  described  by  John  Marston  Hall,  the 
writer  of  the  present  book.  Further,  it  may  not  be  impertinent 
to  observe,  that,  as  Lord  Masterton  himself  states,  the  subject 
of  the  present  memoirs  was  of  infinite  service  and  assistance  to 
his  noble  friend  in  the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  he  had  to 
encounter ;  and  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  promptitude  and  assistance  of  "  Little  Ball-o'-Fire," 
as  he  is  generally  called  in  that  work,  the  history  of  the  noble 
lord  would  not  have  been  brought  to  so  happy  a  conclusion. 
In  the  chapters  here  omitted,  the  writer  details  all  the  scenes 
that  took  place  in  England,  and  all  those  that  followed  in  France, 
up  to  the  period  when  his  Lord  Masterton  was  happily  wedded  to 
the  Lady  Emily  Langleigh,  and  took  up  his  abode  with  her  father 
at  the  beautiful  little  chateau  of  St.  Maur.  At  that  point  we 
shall  again  commence  the  adventures  of  John  Marston  Hall,  as 
written  by  himself,  and  proceed,  even  to  their  conclusion,  with 
no  other  alteration  whatever  than  a  slight  modification  of  the 
orthography,  which  does  not  particularly  well  suit  the  fashion  of 
the  present  day,  and  the  occasional  translation  of  various  passages 
originally  written  in  the  French  tongue. 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  2t 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

When  all  these  affairs  were  settled,  and  my  young 
Lord  Masterton  and  fair  lady  were  looking  as  pleased  as 
heart  could  wish,  going  about  with  each  other  from 
morning  till  night,  and  seeming  perfectly  contented  in 
every  respect,  the  house  began  to  grow  tedious  enough ; 
for  though,  perhaps,  in  the  wide  range  of  human  en- 
joyments there  is  no  greater  pleasure  than  that  of  con- 
tributing to  render  other  people  happy,  there  are  few 
things  more  tiresome  than  looking  on  after  the  work  is 
complete.  I  loved  Lord  Masterton,  it  is  true,  as  sin- 
cerely as  it  was  possible :  for  dangers  encountered  with 
him,  and  services  both  rendered  to  him  and  received 
from  him,  had  of  course  made  him  very  dear  to  me.  I 
loved  Lady  Emily  too,  just  enough  less  dearly  than  I 
did  my  lord  to  make  my  affection  distant  and  respectful ; 
and  they  both  loved  me,  very  much,  from  the  same  mo- 
tives that  I  loved  them.  Nevertheless,  I  acknowledge 
again  that  the  time  hung  very  heavy  upon  my  hands  ; 
and  after  the  first  week  of  the  honeymoon,  with  all  its 
bustle  and  its  gayety,  was  over,  I  began  to  long  for  some- 
thing new, 

I  have  no  doubt  that  Lord  Masterton,  who  was  keen 
enough  in  perceiving  other  people's  feelings,  had  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  that  the  happiness  of  him- 
self and  his  wife  was  too  quiet  and  tranquil  in  its 
nature  to  be  very  amusing  to  other  people  ;  and  knowing 
perfectly  that  I  was  of  a  disposition  to  which  activity, 
either  mental  or  corporeal,  was  absolutely  necessary, 
he  took  no  small  pains,  as  soon  as  he  could  think  of 
any  thing  besides  his  bride,  to  give  me  full  occupation, 
in  supplying  what  he  called  the  defects  in  my  educa- 
tion. I  was  taught  French  thoroughly,  which,  to  say 
truth,  has  been  of  great  use  to  me ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  I  was  filled  with  a  great  deal  more  Latin  than  I 
ever  knew  what  to  do  with ;  and  an  attempt  was  made 
to  cram  me  with  Greek,  which  I  resisted  with  all  the 
repugnance  of  a  child  for  an  emetic.  Still  Lord  Mas- 
terton, thinking  himself  bound  to  act  the  part  of  an 


22  T«E    ADVENTURES    OF 

elder  brother  to  the  orphan  boy  he  had  taken  under  his 
protection,  persevered  in  the  attempt,  and  several  other 
branches  of  science  were  added  to  my  daily  routine  of 
instruction  ;  but  I  need  hardly  tell  the  reader  that  this 
sort  of  occupation  was  the  least  palatable  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  conceive  in  the  estimation  of  a  boy  brought  up 
as  I  had  been. 

I  believe,  and,  indeed,  am  sure,  that  my  good  young 
lord  saw  how  distasteful  the  whole  was  to  me^  for  I 
have  often  remarked,  when  he  casually  entered  my  place 
of  study,  that  a  slight  smile  would  play  upon  his  lip,  as 
he  noticed  any  of  the  fretful  and  impatient  movements 
with  which  I  accompanied  my  lessons.  He  persevered 
for  nearly  nine  months,  however,  thinking  it  absolutely 
necessary,  I  imagine,  both  to  give  me  such  instructions, 
and  to  tame,  in  some  degree,  my  wild  and  restless  spirit. 
For  my  part,  1  was  too  grateful  for  all  that  he  had  done 
for  me,  too  sensible  of  the  kindness  of  his  motives,  and 
too  well  aware  of  the  superiority  of  his  mind,  to  com- 
plain aloud  of  any  thing  that  he  might  think  beneficial 
for  me  to  do.  Repine,  I  did,  in  secret,  and  that  most 
heartily  ;  but  nevertheless,  as  I  was  quick  and  active  in 
mind  as  well  as  body,  and  applied  myself  diligently  to 
learn  while  1  was  about  it,  I  probably  gained  more  in 
the  same  space  of  time  than  many  other  people  would 
have  done.  At  length,  one  day,  to  my  surprise,  my 
usual  masters  did  not  appear  from  Paris,  and  I  received 
directions  from  my  lord  to  prepare  to  accompany  him 
on  a  long  ride. 

This  was  all  very  pleasant  to  me,  especially  as  it 
seemed  to  augur  something  new ;  and  no  language  that 
ever  yet  1  heard  is  adequate  to  describe  the  sort  of 
thirst  for  some  novelty — some  change  in  my  situation — 
which  then  consumed  me.  Gladly  did  I  get  myself 
ready,  gladly  did  I  mount  my  horse  ;  and,  riding  forward 
with  Lord  Masterton  alone,  while  the  grooms  remained 
at  a  good  distance  behind,  I  gave  way  to  all  the  wild 
gladness  of  my  heart. 

Lord  Masterton  suffered  the  first  burst  of  joy  to  have 
its  full  course,  and  smiled  as  he  remarked  it ;  but  in  a 
few  minutes  he  assumed  a  more  serious  tone,  saying, 
"  Come,  come,  little  Ball-o'-Fire,  let  us  ride  on  calmly, 
and  converse  like  rational  people,  for  I  have  something 
serious  to  say  to  you." 

.In%  moment  1  was  all  attention,  and  he  proceeded : 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  23 

"  I  was  in  hopes,"  he  said,  "  to  keep  you  with  me  yet 
for  several  years — till  such  time,  indeed,  as  young  men 
usually  set  forth  in  the  world ;  and  even  then  only  to 
part  with  you  in  order  to  place  you  in  some  station 
where  you  might  win  honour,  and  make  your  way  to 
fame.  For  such  a  purpose,  however,  it  was  necessary 
that  all  those  points  which  circumstances  had  caused 
your  father  to  neglect  in  your  education  should  be  sup- 
plied here,  and  1  consequently  have  endeavoured  to  ob- 
tain for  you  every  sort  of  instruction  which  this  country 
can  afford." 

"  Indeed,  my  lord,"  I  cried,  as  he  paused  for  a  mo- 
ment, "  1  am  not  of  tlie  wood  of  which  men  make  a 
scholar,  and  I  am  afraid,  if  my  getting  on  in  the  world 
is  ever  to  depend  upon  my  learning,  that  I  shall  drop  by 
the  wayside  from  pure  weariness." 

"  I  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion  too,"  he  an- 
swered, in  a  tone  which  expressed  some  degree  of  mor- 
tification, but  not  a  touch  of  anger, — "  I  have  come  to 
the  same  conclusion  too ;  for  you  must  not  suppose 
that  I  have  been  blind  to  your  impatience.  I  hoped, 
indeed,  that  it  would  wear  away,  though  Lord  Lang- 
leigh  assured  me  that  it  would  not ;  but  now,  having 
given  you  the  trial,  having  added  something  to  your 
stock  of  knowledge,  and  having  found  that  your  distaste 
to  study  increases  rather  than  diminishes,  1  have  deter- 
mined to  abandon  the  attempt,  and  to  let  you  follow  out 
that  way  of  life  for  which  nature  seems  to  have  formed 
you,  and  in  which  fortune  herself  had  placed  you." 

Never  did  such  joyful  words  ring  in  my  ears  before  ; 
and  had  we  not  been  on  horseback  1  should  have  thrown 
myself  at  his  feet  to  pour  forth  the  gratitude  that  swelled 
in  my  heart.  Words,  however,  were  not  wanting;  and 
although  I  never  made  use  of  more  than  served  my  pur- 
pose, yet  I  contrived  to  make  him  understand  how 
very  happy  he  had  made  me. 

"  Well,  well,"  he  replied,  "  all  I  can  wish  is  to  advance 
your  interests  ;  but  you  are  of  course  aware,  that  such 
a  change  of  prospects  imphes  that  you  must  leave  me." 

Although  I  had  thought  the  matter  over  a  thousand 
times,  and  pictured  to  myself  all  I  should  like  to  do,  yet 
I  had  certainly  never  contemplated  the  necessity  of 
quitting  a  friend  and  protector  that  I  loved,  as  a  part 
of  the  scheme  ;  and  when  he  placed  it  thus  plainly  be- 
fore me  the  tears  rose  in  my  eyes. 


24  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

"  Such,  nevertheless,  must  be  the  case,"  he  continued  j 
*'  for,  of  course,  to  pass  your  time  in  idleness  here 
would  be  as  disagreeable  to  you  as  to  pass  it  in  dry 
study." 

*'  But  cannot  you  go  to  the  wars,"  I  cried,  "  and  let 
me  go  with  you  V  Lord  Masterton  smiled.  "  1  am 
afraid,"  he  rephed,  "  that  I  cannot  mingle  in  the  scenes 
of  civil  strife  that  are  going  on  here,  solely  to  find  occu- 
pation for  your  active  spirit.  No,  no,  my  good  boy, 
Lord  Langleigh  and  myself  agree  in  thinking,  that 
foreigners,  casting  themselves  upon  the  protection  and 
hospitality  of  a  nation  like  this,  should  take  no  part  in 
the  factious  intrigues  that  agitate  the  country ;  and  we 
have  determined  to  remain  as  quiet  as  possible  till  they 
are  all  over,  which  we  both  hope  and  believe  will  be  the 
case  ere  many  years  be  past ;  for  the  most  turbulent 
cannot  long  remain  blind  to  the  dreadful  evils  which 
such  a  state  of  distrust,  uncertainty,  and  apprehension 
inflicts  upon  every  class  in  the  community.  But  to  re- 
turn to  our  subject :  it  becomes  us  now  to  think  how 
we  can  place  you  to  the  best  advantage.  You  are  too 
young,  of  course,  to  serve  in  any  of  the  regiments  at 
present  in  activity,  and  if  we  place  you  as  page  to  any 
one  else,  it  must  solely  be  with  a  view  to  your  military 
promotion  hereafter.  A  gentleman  who  was  here  the 
other  day,  with  our  good  friend  Monsieur  de  Vitray, 
was  pleased  with  your  history,  and  expressed  a  desire 
for  just  such  a  boy  as  you,  to  bring  up  in  his  own  steps, 
which  have  ever  been  foremost  in  the  field  of  battle." 

"  Who,  who  was  that  V  I  cried,  eagerly.  "  I  saw 
them  all.  Was  it  the  dark  man  with  the  heavy  hanging 
brow  1     I  do  not  like  him." 

"  No,  no,"  he  answered.  "  It  was  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin,  who  sat  at  table  on  Lord  Langleigh's  left,  with 
dark  hair,  just  mingled  with  gray,  and  a  scar  across  his 
forehead." 

"  I  like  him,"  I  replied,  "  I  like  him  !"  and  Lord  Mas- 
terton went  on. — "  Well,"  he  said,  "  he  luckily  liked  you 
and  your  character ;  and  after  a  long  consultation  with 
myself  upon  the  subject,  and  the  fullest  consideration 
of  your  interests  and  your  happiness.  Lord  Langleigh 
has  now  gone  to  speak  with  Monsieur  de  Villardin  on 
your  account,  and  to  see  whether  he  is  willing  to  receive 
you  in  the  capacity  which  we  wish  you  to  fill.  Although 
the  usages  of  this  country  would  render  it  in  no  degree 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  23 


degrading  for  the  son  of  the  first  nobleman  in  the  land 
to  become  the  page  of  the  Due  de  Villardin,  yet  we 
wish  you,  as  it  were,  in  quitting  me,  to  gain  a  step  in 
life.  Lord  Langleigh,  therefore,  will  tell  him,  that  if  he 
will  receive  you  as  superior  to  his  common  pages,  and 
promise  to  obtain  for  you  a  commission  in  the  service 
of  the  state  when  you  reach  the  usual  age,  we  are  will- 
ing to  place  you  under  his  care.  At  the  same  time,  to 
enable  you  always  to  maintain  the  station  which  we 
wish  you  to  take,  we  have  determined  to  grant  you  a 
pension  of  a  thousand  crowns  per  annum,  chargeable 
upon  a  farm  of  Lord  Langleigh's  in  Normandy.  You 
will  thus  be  independent  of  any  one,  for  the  deed  of 
gift  shall  be  drawn  out,  giving  you  that  revenue  irrevo- 
cably." 

The  confused  whirl  of  joyful  ideas  that  took  place  in 
my  brain  at  these  tidings  would  be  difficult  to  express. 
The  idea  of  seeing  the  world,  and  mingling  in  scenes  of 
warlike  activity  once  more,  was  all  joy;  and  if  there 
had  been  any  thing  which  could  give  me  a  moment's 
uneasiness  in  the  prospect  of  going  forth  again  into 
that  world  alone,  it  was  the  chance  of  being  reduced  to 
the  state  of  poverty  and  destitution  which  1  had  suffered 
for  one  whole  year.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  I  did 
fear  it,  for  I  was  not  of  a  character  to  fear  any  of  earth's 
evils,  or  even  to  take  them  into  consideration  in  my 
lookings  forward  towards  the  future  ;  but  the  memory 
of  some  pains  and  some  degradations  which  I  had  suf- 
fered did  certainly  cross  my  mind  for  a  single  moment, 
though  without  any  power  to  affect  my  hopes  or  pur- 
poses. By  the  liberality,  however,  of  my  kind  pro- 
tectors, all  such  apprehensions  were  entirely  removed. 
I  had  now  always  a  resource,  and  that  resource  greater 
in  amount  than  the  pecuniary  means  of  many  a  noble- 
man's son.  Sorry  I  am  to  say,  that  for  the  time  these 
joyful  feelings,  and  all  the  gay  dreams  to  which  they 
gave  rise,  very  nearly  wiped  away  the  grief  1  had  felt 
at  the  prospect  of  quitting  Lord  Masterton ;  and  although 
I  was  deeply  grateful,  and  expressed  my  gratitude  for 
the  new  proofs  of  his  generous  kindness  which  he  had 
just  given  me,  I  could  not  help,  as  we  rode  home,  raving 
upon  all  the  bright  anticipations  which  I  entertained  in 
regard  to  the  future. 

He  smiled  at  my  delight ;  and  though  perhaps  another 
man  might  have  been  offended  at  the  little  regret  1  ex- 

Vol.  L— B 


26  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

pressed  at  leaving  him,  he  had  himself  known  what  the 
spirit  of  adventure  was  too  well  not  to  make  full  allow- 
ance for  the  passionate  desire  of  novelty  that  1  felt,  and 
for  the  restless  love  of  change  which  habit  had,  in  my 
case,  rendered  second  nature. 

To  hear  the  success  of  Lord  Langleigh's  mission  was 
now  my  thirst.  But  he  did  not  return  foi-  several  hours, 
and  I  was  obliged  to  bridle  my  impatience  the  best  way 
I  could.  When  he  did  appear,  however,  his  counte- 
nance, which  was  a  very  expressive  one,  showed  me  at 
once  that  he  was  well  pleased  with  the  event  of  his 
errand.  Nevertheless,  he  said  nothing  to  me  on  the 
subject ;  and  as  Lord  Masterton  was  out  of  the  way,  I 
was  still  compelled  to  digest  my  curiosity  till  the  next 
morning.  Before  breakfast,  however,  1  observed  them 
in  close  conference  for  some  time  ;  and  Lord  Langleigh, 
whose  custom  it  was  never  to  talk  upon  any  subject  of 
importance  sitting  still,  called  me  to  him  as  he  rose  from 
the  breakfast-table,  and  in  a  walk  through  the  park  in- 
formed me,  with  his  usual  prompt  but  somewhat  spark- 
ling manner,  that  the  Due  de  Villardin  had  very  willingly 
agreed  to  all  that  he  proposed. 

"  You  are  not  to  think,"  he  added,  "  from  his  readiness 
to  take  you,  urchin," — the  name  by  which  he  always 
called  me, — "  that  you  are  any  great  acquisition,  after 
all.  Nevertheless,  you  are  a  good,  quick-handed  boy; 
and  if  you  go  on  as  you  have  begun,  you  are  in  a  fair 
way  to  get  yourself  hanged,  shot,  or  made  a  field-mar- 
shal of.  My  son-in-law  tells  me,  what  indeed  I  very 
well  knew  without  his  telling,  that  your  heart  is  all  on 
fire  for  activity  and  new  scenes.  Now,  with  Monsieur 
de  Villardin,  it  is  probable  that  you  will  have  as  much 
as  you  could  well  desire  ;  for  he  is  one  of  those  men 
who  let  no  moment  fly  by  them  unmarked  by  some  deed 
or  some  event.  He  is  in  the  midst  of  all  the  Parisian 
factions,  too ;  and,  if  one-half  of  the  rumours  of  the 
day  be  true,  they  will  soon  bring  down  Spanish  cunning 
to  aid  French  intrigue,  and  make  a  mess  of  it  fit  for 
the  palate  of  the  devil  himself.  So  now  you  will  be  in 
your  right  element,  urchin,  and  I  will  only  give  you  one 
piece  of  advice  before  you  go.  Never  let  your  zeal  for 
any  one's  service  make  you  act  ill,  even  to  his  greatest 
enemy." 

I  felt  myself  turn  as  red  as  fire,  for,  to  say  the  truth, 
the  good  old  lord  had  touched  upon  a  tender  point ;  and, 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  27 

though  I  was  young  enough  to  think  of  such  matters 
lightly,  yet,  during  the  nint-;  months  which  I  had  lately 
passed  in  a  much  more  contemplative  manner  than 
pleased  me,  a  suspicion  would  now  and  then  come  across 
my  mind,  that  one  or  two  things  in  my  past  life  might 
as  well  have  been  left  undone.  Lord  Langleigh  observed 
me  colour,  and  adding,  with  a  nod,  "  It  is  worth  your 
thinking  of,"  he  left  me  and  returned  to  the  house.  I 
did  think  of  his  advice  long  and  eagerly ;  and  his  words 
sank  down  into  my  heart,  producing  therein  the  first  of 
many  changes  which  1  shall  yet  have  to  notice  in  my 
principles  and  conduct,  as,  in  passing  through  life,  I  every 
now  and  then  gained  a  lesson  or  an  admonition,  which 
taught  me  my  own  weaknesses,  or  restrained  my  wild 
passions.  It  was  in  vain,  I  soon  felt,  to  look  back  and 
regret  the  past ;  but  from  that  moment  I  formed  my  de- 
termination for  the  future  ;  and  tried  never  to  forget, 
that  no  cause  could  ever  justify  an  evil  action. 

All  after-arrangements  were  soon  concluded.  My 
dress  was  already  more  splendid  than  was  at  all  neces- 
sary. My  purse  was  well  furnished  by  the  liberality  of 
my  kind  benefactors  ;  and  a  pass  having  been  procured 
for  me  to  enter  Paris,  I  took  leave  of  the  family  at  St. 
Maur  three  days  after  the  conversation  I  have  just  de- 
tailed, and  was  delivered  over  into  the  hands  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  himself  by  the  chief  6cuyer  of  Lord 
Langleigh,  who  accompanied  me  into  Paris. 

My  new  lord  received  me  very  graciously,  and  prom- 
ised me  great  things  if  I  attached  myself  to  him  as  zeal- 
ously as  1  had  done  to  Lord  Masterton.  His  counte- 
nance, I  have  already  said,  had  pleased  me  from  the  first ; 
and  it  certainly  was  one  well  calculated  to  command 
both  respect  and  regard.  Nevertheless,  as  I  came  to 
know  him  better,  I  remarked  occasionally  two  expres- 
sions which  I  had  not  at  first  observed,  but  which  were 
strongly  indicative  of  his  real  character,  or  rather  of 
his  faults.  The  first  was  a  quick,  sharp,  inquiring, 
perhaps  fierce  expression,  when  any  thing  whs  said  in 
an  under-tone  by  the  persons  around  him.  This,  how- 
ever, passed  away  in  a  minute  ;  but  the  second,  which 
consisted  in  a  tremendous  gathering  together  of  the 
brows  when  any  one  seriously  off'ended  him,  would 
last  for  some  hours,  and  it  was  evidently  with  difficulty 
that  he  could  reassume  his  usual  gay  and  cheerful 
manner,  through  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  day. 
B2 


28  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

I  had  early  learned  to  watch  people's  countenances 
as  the  weather-glasses  of  their  minds,  and  thence  to 
judge,  not  only  of  what  was  passing  within  at  the 
moment,  but  also  of  their  habitual  feelings  and  inherent 
disposition.  This  had  been  taught  me  by  my  father, 
who  had  established  his  criterions  for  judging  by  long 
experience ;  and  I  had  not  seen  the  fierce,  sharp  look, 
and  the  deep,  heavy  scowl,  upon  the  face  of  the  duke 
more  than  twice,  when  I  established  it  in  my  own  mind, 
as  a  fact  beyond  doubt,  that  he  was  both  suspicious  and 
revengeful.  At  the  same  time  1  discovered,  by  other 
circumstances,  that  he  was  highly  sensitive  to  ridicule  ; 
and  that,  knowing  well  to  how  many  jests  he  would 
expose  himself  if  he  suffered  his  irritable  jealousy  to 
appear,  he  laboured  strenuously  to  cover  it  by  the  same 
light  and  witty  manner  of  treating  every  thing  which 
in  that  day  was  universally  affected  by  all  Frenchmen. 
In  this  he  was  not  particularly  successful ;  for,  though 
his  mind  was  quick  and  brilliant  enough,  his  heart  was 
too  full  of  deep  and  powerful  feelings  to  harmonize 
well  with  that  playful  badinage  which  alone  affects  the 
surface. 

So  much  for  my  new  master;  but  there  are  other 
members  of  his  family  which  yet  remain  to  be  noticed. 
The  first  of  these,  of  course,  is  Madame  la  Duchesse, 
to  whom  he  led  me  immediately  after  I  had  been  pre- 
sented to  himself,  and  introduced  me  as  his  new  page, 
of  whom  she  had  heard  so  much.  She  was  a  very 
lovely  woman,  and  at  heart  a  most  amiable  one ;  con- 
siderably younger  than  her  husband,  perhaps  about 
four-and-twenty  years  of  age  ;  and  though,  I  believe,  it 
would  be  doing  Diana  herself  no  injustice  to  compare 
her  to  Madame  de  Villardin  in  point  of  chastity,  yet  at 
the  time  I  was  first  presented  to  her,  ere  sorrow  or 
domestic  discomfort  had  tamed  the  light  heart  and  ban- 
ished the  vanities  of  youth,  she  had  decidedly  that  love 
of  admiration  which  has  often,  in  this  world,  done  more 
harm  to  a  woman's  character,  than  half-a-dozen  faux 
pas.  It  mattered  not  with  whom  she  was  in  company 
— rank,  station,  age  made  no  difference — admired  she 
was  determined  to  be  by  every  one  who  came  within 
the  sphere  of  her  influence  :  a  thousand  little  airs  would 
she  assume  to  excite  attention  ;  and  bright  and  spark- 
ling was  the  triumph  which  lighted  up  her  eyes  when 
she  had  succeeded  in  captivating  or  attracting.     In  the 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  29 

case  of  myself  even,  a  boy  of  twelve  years  old,  she 
could  not  resist  the  desire  of  displaying  the  same  graces 
which  she  spread  out  before  others  ;  and  when  her  hus- 
band brought  me  forward  to  her,  the  smile  that  played 
around  her  lips,  the  flash  that  glistened  from  her  fine 
eyes,  and  the  elegant  attitude  with  which  she  held  me 
by  the  arm,  and  gazed  for  a  moment  in  my  face,  were 
all  a  little  more  than  natural,  and  very,  very  different 
from  the  calm,  sweet  manners  of  the  beautiful  Emily 
Langleigh. 

Besides  herself,  I  found  in  the  saloon  where  she  was 
sitting  her  only  child,  a  fine  lively  girl  of  little  more 
than  six  years  old,  who  afterward  became  my  frequent 
playfellow. 

Having  introduced  me  to  his  lady,  and  told  her  several 
particulars  of  my  history,  adding  no  small  commenda- 
tions thereunto  on  my  own  behaviour,  the  duke  sum- 
moned his  major-domo,  to  whose  hands  he  consigned 
me,  bidding  him  make  me  familiar  with  the  house,  and 
all  that  it  contained.  The  old  man,  who  had  been  in 
the  family  of  De  Villardin  from  infancy,  took  me  by  the 
hand  kindly  enough,  and  led  me  away  to  his  own  apart- 
ment, which  consisted  of  two  small,  neat  chambers,  on 
the  lower  story,  looking  out  into  the  court.  Excellent 
old  Jerome  Laborde,  for  such  was  the  name  of  the 
major-domo,  took  care,  as  we  went  along,  to  give  me 
many  a  consolatory  assurance  of  my  being  well  taken 
care  of,  and  rendered  very  happy,  in  the  mansion  of  his 
master,  conceiving  me  to  be  one  of  those  young  and 
inexperienced  boys  who  are  generally  preferred  to  the 
place  of  page  in  a  nobleman's  house  at  a  tender  age,  and 
who,  commencing  with  timidity  and  innocence,  gener- 
ally end  in  impudence  and  intrigue.  His  compassion 
was  also  moved  towards  me  from  the  misfortune,  as  he 
thought  it,  of  my  being  an  Englishman.  But  by  this 
time  I  had  learned  to  speak  French  almost  as  fluently 
as  my  native  tongue  ;  and,  before  I  had  been  half  an 
hour  with  the  old  major-domo,  I  had  convinced  him 
thoroughly  that  I  was  a  person  to  make  myself  very 
much  at  home  anywhere,  and  in  any  circumstances. 
His  ideas  of  a  page,  however,  did  not  permit  him  to 
imagine  that,  as  I  had  not  the  bashful  fears  of  the 
earlier  stages  of  pagehood,  I  could  have  any  thing  better 
in  my  character  than  the  pert  sauciness  of  its  latter 
epoch ;  and,  having  conceived  this  bad  opinion  of  me, 


30  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

the  good  old  man  very  soon  civilly  told  me  that  he 
would  lead  me  to  the  pages'  room,  where  I  would  find 
three  others,  as  gay  and  bold  as  myself.  But  before  I 
proceed  to  this  new  theatre  on  which  my  young  abili- 
ties were  destined  to  display  themselves,  let  me  add 
that,  ere  many  days  had  passed,  1  found  means  to  con- 
vince worthy  Jerome  Laborde  that  the  circumstances 
of  my  former  life  had  rendered  me  a  very  different  crea- 
ture from  any  he  had  yet  met  v/ith  in  all  his  long  expe- 
rience of  pages.  The  injustice  that  he  found  he  had 
done  me,  added  to  the  favourable  impression  he  after- 
ward received,  gained  me  a  place  in  his  good-will, 
which  I  did  not  lose  till  his  death. 

A  scene,  however,  was  yet  to  take  place  which  was 
to  signalize  my  entrance  into  the  house  of  Monsieur  de 
Villardin,  and  to  place  me,  by  my  own  exertions,  in  that 
station  in  his  family  which  Lord  Langleigh  had  pre- 
viously stipulated  that  I  should  enjoy.  On  entering  the 
pages'  room,  as  it  was  called,  I  found,  indeed,  three  boys 
as  gay  and  bold  as  myself,  full  of  saucy  conceit  and  pert 
jocularity.  They  were  all  older  than  I  was,  and  one 
seemed  little  less  than  fifteen  years  of  age.  No  sooner 
was  I  left  there  by  the  major-domo  than,  oi"  course,  I 
became  the  subject  of  their  raillery,  and  for  some  time 
submitted  to  afford  them  matter  for  amusement.  Their 
first  employment  was,  naturally,  the  examination  of  my 
dress,  which  I  could  see,  by  a  frequent  shrug  of  the 
shoulders,  and  the  words  mauvais  _i(out,  did  not  particu- 
larly please  ihese }uven\\e petit-mailres.  Going  from  that, 
however,  to  other  matters,  they  carried  their  jocularity 
so  far,  that  1  soon  found  it  would  be  necessary  to  exert 
one  or  two  of  the  qualities  which  I  had  acquired  in  a 
harder  school  than  any  to  which  they  had  ever  been 
subjected,  in  order  to  put  them  in  that  place  which  I  in- 
tended them  to  occupy  during  the  rest  of  my  stay  in  the 
family.  I  consequently  took  advantage  of  the  first  in- 
solent word  spoken  by  the  eldest — who  appeared  to  have 
a  right  prescriptive  to  tyrannize — and,  having  drubbed 
him  more  heartily  than  ever  he  was  drubbed  before,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  reduce  the  two  others  to  a  complete  state  of 
discipline  and  subordination. 

It  may  easily  be  supposed  that  all  this  was  not  ef- 
fected w^ithout  considerable  noise  ;  for  though  we  were 
all  small  enough  to  have  lain  quiet  in  any  house,  my 
three  companions  were  very  vociferous.     Just  as  1  waa 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  131 

putting  what  may  be  called  the  finishing  stroke  to  the 
affair,  by  once  more  knocking  down  the  eldest — who, 
on  finding  that  his  two  fellow-pages,  notwithstanding 
all  they  had  suffered  from  him  in  former  times,  were 
now  willing  to  espouse  his  cause  against  the  new-comer, 
had  roused  himself  again  to  the  combat — I  perceived 
that  the  door  of  the  apartment  was  ajar,  and  that  the 
face  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin  (with  two  or  three  ecuyers 
behind)  was  gazing  in  upon  the  conflict.  This  discovery, 
however,  did  not  prevent  my  giving  full  force  to  my 
blow,  and  my  antagonist  measured  his  length  upon 
the  floor  at  his  master's  feet. 

"  Very  well  struck  for  a  roup  d'essai,^^  cried  the  duke, 
walking  in  ;  "  every  fresh  dog  must  of  course  fight  his 
way  through  the  pack ;  but  novv,  young  gentlemen,  as 
your  new  comrade  seems  to  have  satisfied  you  pretty 
well  that  his  must  be  the  first  station  among  you  by  right 
of  superior  strength  and  activity,  1  also  tell  you  that  it  is 
his  by  my  will.  Gaspard,"  he  continued,  turning  to  his 
eldest  page,  "  you  are  but  a  boy,  and  not  fit  to  cope  with 
one  who  has  slain  men.  So  submit  with  a  good  grace, 
and  give  him  your  hand." 

The  boy,  who  had  by  this  time  risen  from  the  floor, 
obeyed ;  but  as  he  did  so,  he  eyed  me  from  under  his 
bent  brows  with  a  look  that  was  suflnicient  warning  that 
I  had  gained  an  enemy.  This  was  an  acquisition  not 
particularly  disagreeable  to  me  ;  for,  to  tell  the  truth,  I 
had  at  that  time  been  so  much  more  accustomed  to  deal 
with  enemies  than  friends,  that  I  hardly  felt  in  my  ele- 
ment without  them  ;  and  indeed,  as  1  looked  upon  man's 
natural  position  to  be  a  state  of  warfare,  I  was  always 
prepared  to  bear  my  share  in  it  with  good-will.  These 
opinions,  it  is  true,  changed  greatly  afterward  ;  but  hov/ 
the  alteration  was  brought  about  is  to  be  found  in  the 
history  of  my  after-life. 

The  mortification  of  Gaspard  de  Belleville,  which  was 
the  name  of  my  chief  opponent,  was  rendered  complete 
by  the  duke  selecting  me  as  the  companion  of  his  ride 
to  the  palais,  where  the  parliament  was  then  sitting. 
But  I  must  speak  of  the  events  which  occurred  to  me  in 
Paris  by  themselves ;  nor  indeed  should  1  have  men- 
tioned the  childish  squabble  which  took  place  between 
me  and  the  other*  pages,  had  it  not  been  necessary  to 
explain  the  origin  of  a  good  solid  hatred  which  Gaspard 
de  Belleville  conceived  towards  me,  and  which  lasted. 


32  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

undiminished,  through  life,  rendering  his  own  days  mis- 
erable, and  having  quite  sufficient  effect  upon  my  fate. to 
show  me  that  we  should  never  make  an  enemy  when 
we  can  make  a  friend. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  city  of  Paris,  and  the  country  in  general,  were 
then  in  a  pitiable  state,  owing  to  every  party  in  the  land 
combining  in  the  strongest  degree  that  it  is  possible  to 
imagine,  the  quahties  of  knave  and  fool.  The  parlia- 
ment was  playing  the  fool  in  Paris,  and  yet  sacrificing 
the  country  to  the  nicest  calculations  of  its  own  in- 
terest. The  party  of  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  was  playing 
the  fool,  and  letting  slip  every  opportunity  of  effecting 
its  own  objects,  while  it  was  calling  a  foreign  power 
into  the  heart  of  its  native  country  to  obtain  them.  The 
people  were  playing  the  fool  in  suffering  themselves  to 
be  led  by  an  ass,  the  Duke  de  Beaufort,  and  by  a  knave, 
the  Cardinal  de  Retz,  while  at  the  same  time  they  took 
care  to  enrich  themselves  by  the  plunder  of  the  stores 
and  magazines  ;  and  last,  not  least,  the  court  was  play- 
ing the  fool  at  St.  Germain,  treating  weakly  where  it 
might  have  acted  vigorously,  and  yet  cheating  all  the 
other  parties  with  the  most  consummate  art. 

The  situation  of  France  at  the  time  I  entered  Paris 
was,  in  a  few  words,  as  follows  : — Louis  XIV.  was  then 
a  mere  boy,  under  the  regency  of  his  mother,  who  in 
turn,  was  under  the  government  of  Cardinal  Mazarin ; 
and  these  three  personages,  together  with  the  Prince 
of  Conde,  and  a  large  body  of  nobility,  were  then  at 
St.  Germain-en-laye,  shut  out  of  the  city  of  Paris,  which 
they  were  besieging  without  a  sufficient  body  of  troops 
to  take  even  one  of  the  gates.  The  parliament  which 
had  begun  the  war,  and  the  people  who  had  seconded  it 
remained  in  the  capital,  hating  Mazarin,  and  laughing  at 
the  court ;  but  heartily  sick  of  a  war  which  prevented  the 
butter  and  cream  from  the  country  reaching  Paris  in 
safety;  while  a  party  of  clever  men  and  immense  rogues, 
consisting  of  a  number  of  general  officers,  with  the  Dukes 
of  Bouillon,  Elbeuf,  Beaufort,  the  Prince  de  Conti,  and 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  39 

the  Archbishop  de  Retz,  laboured  night  and  day  to  keep 
both  people  and  parliament  in  a  state  of  agitation  and 
excitement,  in  order  that  each  of  these  worthy  and  nota- 
ble leaders  might  wring  from  the  weakness  of  a  regency 
every  sort  of  gift,  honour,  and  emolument.  For  this 
purpose,  open  war  had  been  declared  against  the  court, 
while,  as  usual,  the  king's  name  was  used,  and  the  king's 
standard  displayed  on  both  sides.  All  the  people  in  the 
realm  seemed  mad,  and  a  strange  spirit  of  contradicting 
their  own  established  characters  appeared  to  have  seized 
upon  every  one.  Acknowledged  cowards  led  armies 
and  rushed  into  battle,  the  most  faithful  turned  traitors, 
the  most  honest  became  knaves,  the  firm  were  in  a 
continual  state  of  vacillation,  the  wise  showed  them- 
selves fools,  and  the  brave  ran  away.  However,  as  it 
became  evident  to  the  Parisian  generals  that  the  parlia- 
ment was  inclined  to  separate  from  the  people,  and 
make  peace  with  the  court  for  itself,  before  the  con- 
cessions were  granted  which  they,  the  generals,  de- 
manded for  themselves,  they  determined  to  do  their 
best,  by  means  of  the  people  within  the  city  and  of 
armies  without,  to  compel  the  parliament  to  be  honest 
to  them  and  dishonest  to  the  court.  Negotiations  were 
immediately  opened  with  the  Spanish  government  of  the 
Low  Countries,  Spanish  ambassadors  were  received  in 
Paris,  the  archduke  began  his  march  into  France, 
Turenne  himself,  with  the  common  madness  of  the 
day,  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion  against  his  king  in 
aid  of  his  brother  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  and  the  Due  de 
Longueville  promised  to  advance  also  with  his  forces 
from  Rouen  to  support  the  Parisians  in  their  struggle. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  things  externally  when  I 
entered  the  capital,  and  became  attached  to  one  of  the 
party  of  general  officers.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  to  be 
remarked,  that  deputies  from  the  parliament  were 
treating  for  peace  at  Ruel ;  and,  though  the  date  of  their 
powers  had  expired,  they  were  still  continuing  their 
negotiations,  A  report  even  was  current  that  they  had 
concluded  a  treaty  with  Mazarin ;  and  as  I  had  passed 
through  the  town  on  my  way  to  the  house  of  Monsieur 
de  Villardin,  I  had  found  the  people  collected  in  large 
bodies,  shouting,  "  Down  with  Mazarin !  down  with  the 
parliament!" 

By  the  time  that  we  issued  forth  into  the  streets  to 
take  our  way  to  the  building  where  the  great  judicial 
B3 


34  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

body  was  assembled,  the  rumour  had  become  still  more^ 
general,  and  the  crowds,  of  course,  were  increased. 
Nothing-  was  heard  but  cries  and  shouts,  and  what  were 
then  called  Mazarinade3.  Poniards,  muskets,  pikes, 
and  swords  were  in  all  hands ;  and  so  very  indiscrimi- 
nate was  the  use  which  the  people  seemed  inclined  to 
make  of  their  weapons,  that  it  was  only  by  constantly 
joining  in  their  shout  of  down  with  Mazarin  that  we 
made  our  way  through  them  with  safety.  The  numbers 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  palais  were  still  more  im- 
mense and  vociferous ;  and  even  the  crowd  of  guards 
who  were  keeping  the  court  and  the  doors  of  the  build- 
ing seemed  not  a  whit  less  infuriated  than  the  people. 
At  the  same  time  persons  were  seen  continually  coming 
out  from  the  parliament,  and  haranguing  the  multitude ; 
and  those  also  who  went  in  seldom  failed  to  treat  them 
to  a  taste  of  their  eloquence  ere  they  entered  the  gates. 
The  state  of  insanity  to  which  all  this  oratory  raised  the 
populace  may  easily  be  imagined ;  and  at  one  time  I 
heard  a  man  exclaim  from  among  the  crowd,  that  they 
should  hang  the  deputies  over  the  gates ;  while  one  of 
the  town-guard  added,  that  if  Monsieur  de  Villardin, 
who  was  just  going  in,  would  return  and  point  out  to 
them  who  were  really  the  Mazarins  in  the  parliament 
itself,  they  would  drag  them  out,  and  poniard  them  in 
the  court. 

Upon  this,  the  duke,  of  course,  favoured  them  with  an 
oration  also,  and  a  curious  piece  of  composition  it  was; 
consisting  of  a  series  of  pleasantries  upon  the  parlia- 
ment, upon  Mazarin,  upon  himself,  upon  the  court,  and 
upon  every  thing,  mingled  with  a  few  apophthegms  upon 
policy,  religion,  and  morals,  which  all  tended  to  capti- 
vate the  people,  and  make  them  think  him  wondrous 
wise,  without  tending  in  the  least  to  calm  them,  or  re- 
duce them  to  order  and  decency.  Now  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin was  not  only  a  polished  speaker,  and,  where  his 
own  passions  were  not  concerned,  a  close  reasoner,  but 
he  was  also  really  a  patriotic,  generous,  disinterested 
man ;  and  the  fact  of  his  speaking  for  half  an  hour,  as 
he  did  on  the  present  occasion,  a  tissue  of  high-sounding, 
disjointed  nonsense,  which  could  only  serve  to  inflame 
still  further  the  minds  of  a  mad  and  excited  populace,  can 
only  be  accounted  for  upon  the  grounds  of  the  general 
insanity  which  seemed  at  that  time  to  have  seized  upon 
all  ranks  and  classes. 


JOHN    MARSTOIN    HALL.  35 

This  oration  being  finished,  we  entered  the  parliament- 
house  ;  and,  by  the  special  favour  of  one  of  the  door- 
keepers, my  new  lord  was  permitted  to  take  me  with 
him  into  the  interior  of  the  building-,  perhaps  anticipat- 
ing one  of  those  scenes  in  which  the  prompt  hand  and 
ready  perception,  that  had  been  my  principal  recom- 
mendation in  his  eyes,  might  be  serviceable  to  him  in 
more  ways  than  one.  We  took  our  way  by  the  great 
staircase  in  the  right  wing,  and  soon  found  ourselves  in 
what  is  called  the  Salle  des  pas  perdus,  which  was  full 
of  people  of  all  sorts  and  descriptions — guards,  door- 
keepers, and  officers  of  the  palais ;  counsellors,  states- 
men, members  of  the  different  chambers,  and  the  mixed 
crowd  of  attendants  belonging  to  all  those  who  were 
thronging  to  the  parliament  on  the  present  momentous 
occasion.  Passing  onward,  through  the  small  refresh- 
ment-rooms, called  Les  Buveties,  where  no  obstacle  was 
presented  to  my  following  my  master,  we  were  soon  in 
the  midst  of  the  hall  in  which  the  parliament  were 
assembled ;  and  such  a  scene  of  disgraceful  confusion 
has  seldom  perhaps  been  witnessed.  Half-a-dozen 
people  were  upon  their  feet  haranguing  at  once ;  and 
several  minutes  elapsed  before  any  thing  could  be  heard 
except  a  confused  gabble  of  tongues,  which  might  have 
done  honour  to  the  top  of  the  tower  of  Babei. 

At  length,  the  Duke  d'Elbeuf,  whom  I  had  seen  before, 
and  who  seemed  to  have  the  longest  breath,  the  loudest 
voice,  and  the  most  determined  pertinacity  of  the  party, 
obtained  the  ascendency ;  and  one  by  one  sitting  down, 
he  was  left  speaking  alone. 

'•  Now,  sir  president,"  he  continued,  turning  to  a  man 
of  dignified  appearance,  who,  habited  as  a  high  law- 
officer,  occupied  one  of  the  principal  places  of  the 
assembly, — •'  now,  sir  president,  since  I  can  make  my- 
self heard,  I  demand  distinctly  whether  you  or  any  of 
your  fellow-deputies  have,  at  your  conference  with 
Mazarin  and  the  court,  made  any  provision  whatever 
for  the  security  and  remuneration  of  the  generals  and 
other  officers  who  have  sacrificed  so  much  in  the  cause 
of  the  parliament  and  the  people." 

"  Before  I  reply  to  any  particular  questions,"  an- 
swered the  president,  "  I  will,  with  the  permission  of 
the  parliament,  read  the  proch-verbal  of  our  proceedings 
at  the  conference  at  Ruel.  Then  having  seen  what  we 
have  really  done,  the  chambers  will  be  enabled  to  judge 


36  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

whether  they  can  approve  of  the  treaty  of  peace  we 
have  concluded." 

"  You  had  no  power,  you  had  no  power,"  shouted  forty 
or  fifty  voices  at  once, — "  you  had  no  power  to  conclude 
any  thnig !  Your  authority  expired  four  or  five  days 
ago !  There  is  no  peace  ;  we  will  have  no  peace .' 
The  deputies  have  gone  beyond  their  powers;  they  have 
abandoned  disgracefully  our  generals  and  our  friends  !" 

In  vain  the  chief  president  attempted  to  read  the  paper 
which  he  had  in  his  hand.  Every  time  he  opened  his 
mouth  his  words  were  drowned  in  murmurs  and  re- 
proaches ;  and  even  when  he  abandoned  the  endeavour 
and  sat  down,  it  was  clear  that  the  rest  of  the  assembly 
only  waited  for  some  new  word  to  break  forth  again 
into  tumult  and  invective.  All  solemnity,  all  dignity 
was  laid  aside  :  the  turbulence  had  not  even  the  inipres- 
siveness  derived  from  being  terrible :  it  was  simply 
ridiculous ;  and  the  only  image  presented  to  the  mind 
by  the  whole  scene  was  a  body  of  fishwomen  scolding 
in  a  market. 

After  the  silence  of  perhaps  a  minute  which  ensued,  a 
little  pale  young  man,  who  seemed  to  me  slightly  de- 
formed, and  who  I  afterward  found  was  the  Prince  de 
Conti,  rose  near  the  head  of  the  hull,  and  said,  in  a  mild 
and  sweet-toned  voice,  that  he  did  wonder  that  the  depu- 
ties from  the  parliament  had  thought  fit  to  conclude  a 
peace  with  the  court,  without  consulting  himself  and  the 
generals  of  the  army.  Another  person,  who  was  after- 
ward addressed  as  the  Duke  de  Bouillon,  with  a  broad, 
unmeaning  countenance,  which,  however,  lighted  up  in 
an  extraordinary  manner  when  he  began  to  speak,  fol- 
lowed the  Prince  de  Conti  in  addressing  the  parliament : 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  since  you  have  thought  fit 
to  conclude  a  peace  with  the  court,  and  allowed  the 
Cardinal  Mazarin,  whose  enmity  I  have  so  highly  pro- 
voked in  your  service,  to  remain  prime  minister,  the 
only  favour  and  reward  that  I  shall  require  of  you  is, 
to  obtain  me  a  passport,  as  speedily  as  possible,  to  quit 
the  country  with  my  family." 

"  We  have  not  concluded  a  peace  ;  we  disavow  it. 
The  deputies  had  no  power,"  cried  a  dozen  voices  at 
once;  and  everybody  again  began  speaking  together,, 
as  if  the  sense  of  hearing  had  suddenly  left  the  whole 
assembly.  One  man,  the  Duke  de  Beaufort,  who  was 
handsome  enough,  indeed,  bui  whose  good  looks  were 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  37 

principally  composed  of  high  health  and  stupidity,  laid 
his  hand  upon  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  and  declared  that 
it  should  never  draw  blood  for  Mazarin.  Another  pro- 
tested that  the  parliament  had  rendered  itself  for  ever 
unworthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  people  ;  and,  what 
between  reproaches  and  tumult,  more  than  an  hour 
passed  without  any  thing  being  concluded. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  uproar,  however,  a  piece  of 
buffoonery,  performed  by  the  well-known  Bachaumont, 
restored  some  sort  of  good-humour  to  the  assembly; 
for  seizing  a  momentary  pause,  when  every  tongue,  as 
if  by  common  consent,  halted  to  take  breath,  he  passed 
behind  the  famous  De  Retz,  then  archbishop-coadjutor 
of  Paris,  snatched  forth  a  poniard,  which  he  had  espied 
lying  concealed  in  the  bosom  of  that  factious  prelate, 
and,  holding  it  up  to  the  eyes  of  the  parliament,  ex- 
claimed, "  Gentlemen,  gentlemen,  look  at  the  breviary 
of  our  archbishop !" 

A  roar  of  laughter  succeeded,  which  left  the  whole 
of  that  grave  assembly  so  much  out  of  countenance,  that 
it  was  some  time  before  they  could  speak  of  any  serious 
business,  much  more  return  to  the  angry  disputation  in 
which  they  had  been  interrupted. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  change,  one  of  the  lawyers, 
called  the  President  de  Coigneux,  rose,  and  made  the 
most  sensible  proposition  which  had  yet  been  heard ; 
namely,  that,  as  the  deputies  had  acted  without  au- 
thority, and  as  the  responsibility  of  what  they  had  done, 
of  course,  rested  upon  themselves,  they  should  be  sent 
back  with  the  treaty  they  had  framed,  and,  though  per- 
mitted to  take  it  for  the  basis  of  a  new  one,  should  be 
directed,  in  addition,  to  stipulate  for  immunity  and  re- 
compense to  the  generals  and  nobles  who  had  engaged 
in  the  cause  of  the  parliament. 

He  had  not  yet  concluded  his  harangue,  however, 
when  a  tremendous  noise  in  the  court  below,  and  even 
in  the  hall  without,  together  with  lould  shouts  of  "  Down 
with  Mazarin!  Down  with  the  parliament !  Hang  up 
the  deputies  !  Long  live  the  noble  generals  !  Let  us 
have  a  republic  !  Set  fire  to  the  palais .'"  and  other 
such  sweet  and  delectable  exhortations,  roared  by  the 
stentorian  voices  of  the  crowd,  caused  the  orator  to  turn 
very  pale,  and  to  sit  down  before  he  had  finished  his 
oration.  Another  lawyer  rose  to  second  the  proposal 
of  the  first :  but  by  this  time  the  noise  had  become  so 


38  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

tremendous  that  what  he  said  could  not  be  distinguished ; 
and  the  moment  afier  the  great  door  of  the  hall  opened, 
and  one  of  the  door-keepers  entered,  pale  and  trembling, 
announcing,  in  a  voice  scarcely  articulate  with  fear,  that 
the  populace  had  forced  their  way  into  the  Salle  des  pas 
perdus,  and  demanded  to  speak  with  the  Due  de  Beau- 
fort. 

That  prince — who,  with  scarcely  common  sense  to 
carry  him  through  the  world,  was  the  great  popular 
leader,  both  at  that  time  and  for  many  years  afterward 
— went  out  and  tranquillized  the  people  for  a  few  min- 
utes ;  but  scarcely  had  he  again  entered  the  hall  when 
the  tumult  recommenced,  and  it  was  found  absolutely 
necessary  to  break  up  the  sitting. 

Nevertheless,  the  chief  president — although  against 
himself  personally,  as  the  principal  member  of  the  depu- 
tation which  had  signed  the  peace,  the  anger  of  the  multi- 
tude was  most  fiercely  excited — still  maintained  his  place 
with  calm  dignity  ;  and  declared,  without  the  slightest 
shade  of  fear  detracting  from  his  perfect  self-possession, 
that  a  proposition  being  before  the  parliament,  it  could 
not  separate  without  coming  to  some  decision  on  the 
subject.  The  motion  that  the  deputies  should  be  sent 
back  was  immediately  put ;  and  was  carried  with  some- 
what timid  rapidity.  The  next  question  was,  how  to 
get  the  obnoxious  deputies  to  their  houses  with  their 
lives,  especially  the  chief  president,  who,  notwith- 
standing political  differences,  was  admired  and  esteemed 
by  every  nobler  spirit  present. 

He  had  just  taken  the  voices  of  the  assembly,  as 
calmly  as  he  would  have  done  at  any  ordinary  time,  and 
on  any  ordinary  occasion  ;  and,  for  a  moment  after, 
there  followed  a  general  pause,  while  the  whole  as- 
sembly looked  upon  him  with  a  feeling  of  interest  and 
apprehension  that  is  difficult  to  describe.  Even  I,  my- 
self, who  had  never  seen  him  before,  and  now,  as  I  stood 
behind,  under  one  of  the  arches,  only  caught  an  occa- 
sional view  of  him  through  the  crowd,  felt  that  I  would 
shed  ray  own  blood  to  save  him.  Everybody  present 
was  well  aware  that  there  existed  a  thousand  chances 
to  one  that  he  would  be  massacred  the  moment  he 
showed  his  face  among  the  infuriated  mob  without ; 
but  he  himself  did  not  seem  to  feel  that  he  was  an  object 
of  any  particular  attention,  or  to  suppose  that  there  was 
any  imminent  danger,  though  he  must  have  been  inter- 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  3t 

nally  convinced  that  his  life  was  not  certain  for  a  mo- 
ment. Calmly  risinj^,  however,  after  he  had  declared 
the  vote  of  the  chambers,  and  had  pronounced  the  sitting 
at  an  end,  he  prepared  to  leave  the  hall  without  any 
apparent  agitation.  As  he  took  the  first  step  towards 
the  door,  the  Duke  de  Bouillon  and  several  other  offi- 
cers, among  whom  my  new  lord  was  one,  pressed  about 
him,  and  entreated  him  to  pass  round  by  the  writing- 
rooms  at  the  back  of  the  buildings,  by  which  means  he 
would  avoid  encountering  the  people. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  replied,  "  the  court  of  parliament 
never  conceals  itself;  and  if  I  were  certain  of  being 
torn  in  pieces  the  moment  I  set  my  foot  beyond  this 
hall,  I  would  not  commit  such  an  act  of  cowardice  as 
to  go  out  by  any  but  the  way  to  which  I  am  accus- 
tomed." 

"  At  least,"  cried  the  archbishop,  "  do  not  attempt  to 
proceed  till  I  have  endeavoured  to  calm  the  people." 

A  bitter  smile  curled  the  lip  of  the  president,  who  well 
knew  that  prelate  to  be  the  instigator  of  half  the  sedi- 
tion which  took  place  in  the  city  ;  but  he  replied,  with  a 
low  bow,  "  Well,  well,  my  very  good  lord,  go  and  give 
them  the  word,  by  all  means  ;  "  and,  almost  as  soon  as 
De  Retz  had  left  him,  he  again  began  to  move  towards 
the  door.  Several  of  the  more  popular  among  the  offi- 
cers surrounded  him  as  he  advanced,  in  order  to  protect 
him  ;  and  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  placing  himself  on  his 
right  hand,  bade  me  go  on  immediately  before,  and  do 
what  I  thought  best  to  assist  in  clearing  the  way. 

"  You  seem  to  have  great  confidence  in  your  page, 
Monsieur  le  Due,"  said  the  president,  in  a  calm  easy 
tone. 

"You  will  see  whether  I  have  not  cause,  sir,"  replied 
the  duke ;  "  but  let  me  beseech  you  not  to  utter  one 
word,  either  good  or  bad,  till  you  are  safe  in  your  own 
dwelling." 

It  is  a  certain  fact,  that  to  teach  people  that  we  ex- 
pect great  things  from  them  is  the  best  of  all  ways  to 
cause  them  to  use  great  exertions  ;  and  the  words  that 
I  overheard  at  once  made  me  determine  to  leave  no- 
thing undone  that  could  show  my  zeal  or  activity.  The 
rest  of  the  popular  nobles  and  lawyers  now  approached 
to  protect  the  other  deputies,  and  thus  we  advanced 
to  the  door.  When  we  were  close  to  it,  the  huisxier 
threw  it  open,  and  a  sight  certainly  somewhat  appalling 


40  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

presented  itself.  The  outer  hall  was  filled  to  suffocation! 
with  a  dense  mass  of  ill-favoured  vagabonds,  who  pre- 
sented themselves,  with  fury  in  their  eyes  and  weapons 
in  their  hands,  shouting  all  sorts  of  imprecations  upon 
the  deputies,  upon  Mazarin,  and  upon  the  court.  They 
were  led  by  a  ruined  advocate  called  Du  Boisle,  who 
was  almost  as  ragged  as  his  followers,  and  equally  well 
furnished  with  arms.  Indeed,  the  combination  of  swords, 
guns,  and  daggers,  with  rags  and  tatters,  had  a  very 
strange  effect  to  the  eye  when  it  first  lighted  upon  the 
multitude,  which  presented  the  aspect  of  a  strong  force 
of  armed  beggars. 

However,  we  moved  on  directly  towards  the  opposite 
door ;  and  as  all  looks  were  turned  upon  the  parhament, 
none  upon  me,  I  advanced,  keeping  a  step  before  the 
president,  till  I  almost  touched  the  front  rank  man,  in 
the  centre  of  the  crowd.  He  showed  not  the  slightest 
disposition  to  move  out  of  the  way ;  and,  although  I  kept 
my  hand  upon  my  dagger,  I  thought  it  might  be  as  well 
to  try  mild  means  first ;  therefore,  setting  my  heel  upon 
his  toes,  I  gave  them  a  gentle  squeeze,  which  made  him 
start  back,  roaring,  upon  those  behind  him.  The  tu- 
mult was  still  so  great,  that  the  cry  of  pain  he  uttered 
passed  almost  unnoticed,  while  his  rush  back  made  those 
behind  him  retreat  also,  so  that  a  passage  was  cleared 
for  us  halfway  through  the  hall.  We  lost  no  time  in  ta- 
king advantage  of  this  favourable  circumstance  ;  but  be- 
fore we  had  proceeded  far,  Du  Boisle  threw  himself  in 
the  way  of  the  president,  and  addressed  him  in  lan- 
guage which  at  once  showed  why  his  oratory  was  so 
much  more  successful  in  a  mob  than  in  a  court  of  jus- 
tice. As  his  harangue  was  rather  lengthy,  and  a  crow.d, 
like  damp  hay,  always  heats  itself  by  standing  close 
packed  together,  I  soon  saw  brandishing  of  weapons, 
and  caught  a  sight  of  two  or  three  men  mounting  upon 
the  benches  at  the  back,  and  calmly  taking  aim,  with 
their  muskets,  at  various  persons  in  our  httle  party.  It 
therefore  seemed  necessary  to  bring  the  advocate's  ora- 
tion to  a  conclusion ;  and  as  he  was  so  near  the  president 
as  sometimes  to  take  him  by  the  robe,  I  easily  got  in 
behind  him,  and  catching  his  coat,  so  as  to  throw  him 
over  among  the  people,  I  tripped  up  his  heels,  in  the 
very  fury  of  his  declamation.  My  size,  of  course,  greatly 
contributed  to  my  success,  and  also  shielded  me  from 
notice  and  retribution :  and  in  the  confusion  which  foU 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  41 

lowed,  the  president  and  his  companions  pushed  for- 
ward, and  descended  the  great  staircase  in  safety. 

The  crowd  without  were  not  prepared  for  our  issuing 
forth  without  any  notice  from  their  friends  within,  and 
thus  we  got  a  considerable  start  of  them,  which  enabled 
us  to  convey  the  president  to  his  house  unhurt.  Our 
movements,  however,  were  soon  perceived  :  the  multi- 
tude followed,  shouting  imprecations  upon  us  :  and  as 
we  endeavoured  to  disperse,  after  having  accomplished 
our  purpose,  a  thousand  scenes  of  confusion  and  brutality 
ensued.  What  became  of  the  other  nobles  and  coun- 
cellors,  I  did  not  see.  Monsieur  de  Villardin  turned 
again  towards  the  palais  to  find  his  grooms  and  his 
horses;  but  as  he  had  made  himself  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous in  defending  the  president,  he  was  surrounded 
and  attacked  by  a  party  of  butchers,  who  threw  him 
down  upon  the  pavement.  I  was  three  steps  behind : 
one  of  his  assailants  knelt  over  him  with  a  poniard  in 
his  hand,  shouting,  "  Death  to  the  Mazarin  !"  and  as  long 
practice  in  cutting  throats  seemed  to  have  rendered  him 
expert  and  quick,  it  is  probable  that  ere  I  could  have 
come  up  to  afford  any  assistance.  Monsieur  de  Villardin 
would  have  lost  his  life,  on  the  very  first  day  of  my  at- 
tendance upon  him.  At  that  moment,  however,  a  young 
cavalier  of  not  more  than  four  or  five-and-twenty  years 
of  age,  followed  by  two  or  three  servants,  dashed  in 
among  the  butchers,  received  in  his  own  arm  the  blow 
of  the  dagger  which  was  intended  for  the  duke's  throat, 
and  cleared  the  space  around  him. 

At  the  same  time,  though  he  was  sharply  wounded, 
he  exclaimed,  with  the  utmost  good-humour,  "  What ! 
gentlemen,  are  you  going  to  kill  your  friends  ]  This  is 
no  Mazarin  !  This  is  one  of  the  generals.  Do  you  not 
remember  Monsieur  de  Villardin  1"  It  is  astonishing 
how  few  words  will  convince  a  mob  of  any  thing  under 
the  sun.  The  butchers  looked  utterly  confounded  when 
they  heard  that  they  had  just  been  engaged  in  the  lauda- 
ble employment  of  assaulting  one  of  the  generals  of 
their  own  armies,  though  they  were  told  so  by  a  person 
of  whom  they  apparently  knew  as  little.  It  was  quite 
sufficient  for  them  that  some  one  said  so  ;  and  a  few 
more  words  from  the  duke  himself,  who  had  by  this 
time  regained  his  feet,  finished  the  impression,  and  sent 
them  away  to  assault  somebody  else  with  as  much 
reason. 


42  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

As  soon  as  we  were  left  alone,  the  duke  turned  to  his 
deliverer,  and  expressed  his  gratitude  for  the  service  he 
had  received.  "  It  would  be  a  shame  to  me,"  he  added, 
after  his  first  thanks  had  been  poured  forth,  "  if  I  were 
to  remain  one  moment  longer  ignorant  of  the  name  of 
one  to  whom  I  am  so  deeply  indebted." 

"  I  can  well  believe  that  you  have  forgotten  me,"  an- 
swered the  young  gentleman,  "  for  you  have  not  seen 
me  for  seven  or  eight  years,  which  at  my  time  of  life 
effects  a  great  change ;  but  you  cannot  have  forgotten 
the  name  of  Charles  de  Mesnil,  your  nearest  neighbour, 
I  believe,  in  Brittany." 

"  Good  Heavens,  my  dear  count,  is  it  possible  1"  ex- 
claimed Monsieur  de  Villardin ;  "  1  had,  indeed,  forgotten 
you  ;  but  you  were  merely  a  boy  when  I  last  saw  you. 
You  are  changed  indeed.  1  never  thought  to  see  you 
such  a  height.  You  are  taller  by  full  two  inches  than 
your  father  was.  Gracious  Heaven '.  but  you  are  bleed- 
ing," he  added,  remarking  the  wound  in  his  arm. 

"  Oh,  it  is  a  mere  nothing,"  answered  the  other;  "I 
will  seek  some  surgeon  and  have  it  dressed." 

"  Nowhere  but  in  my  house,"  replied  Monsieur  do 
Villardin  :  "  call  up  my  horses.  Are  those  yours  stand- 
ing yonder,  counts 

The  reply  was  in  the  affirmative  ;  and  the  young  cav- 
alier added,  that  seeing  Monsieur  de  Villardin  coming 
out  of  the  palais,  he  had  followed  on  foot  to  claim  ac- 
quaintance with  him. 

I  was  not  long  in  finding  the  grooms ;  and  the  two 
gentlemen  having  mounted,  we  rode  home,  after  hav- 
ing spent  a  morning  as  full  of  bustle  as  ever  I  could 
wish. 

A  surgeon  was  instantly  sent  for;  and  the  young 
cavalier's  wound  having  been  dressed,  he  was  presented 
by  Monsieur  de  Villardin  to  his  lady  as  the  son  of  an  old 
friend  and  the  saviour  of  his  life.  What  passed  further 
I  do  not  know ;  but  the  day  closed,  and  I  felt  myself 
very  well  contented  with  my  situation. 


JOHN    HARSTON    HALX.  43 


CHAPTER  IX. 

After  supping  with  the  pages,  whose  meals  were 
taken  in  a  sep«.rate  chamber,  I  inquired  of  the  old  major- 
domo,  who  1  found  was  to  be  my  oracle  in  the  house, 
whether  the  duke  was  likely  to  require  my  attendance 
upon  him  during  the  course  of  the  evening ;  and,  learn- 
ing that  I  might  absent  myself  in  security,  I  told  my  old 
adviser  that  1  should  go  out  into  the  streets  of  Paris, 
and  take  a  stroll  through  the  city,  which  1  had  not  seen 
since  I  left  it  with  Lord  Masterton,  many  months  before. 
The  good  old  man  gave  me  a  great  many  sage  and  pru- 
dent cautions  as  to  my  behaviour;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  having  a  billet  to  send  to  his  nephew,  one  Jacques 
Marlot,  a  printer,  who  lived  upon  the  Quay  of  the  Gold- 
smiths, he  did  not  at  all  oppose  my  expedition,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  requested  me  to  deliver  the  note  as  I 
went, 

I  willingly  undertook  the  task,  and  sallied  forth  full 
of  glad  thoughts,  and  well  disposed  to  be  pleased  with 
every  thing  that  a  great  city  could  present. 

To  tell  the  truth,  my  freedom  from  the  irksome  re- 
straint and  wearisome  application  which  my  late  studies 
demanded,  made  me  feel  very  much  like  a  bird  escaped 
from  its  cage,  and  I  walked  along  through  the  streets  of 
Paris  far  happier  than  if  I  had  been  lord  of  one  half  of 
the  universe.  That  capital,  nevertheless,  was  not,  per- 
haps, one  of  the  best  schools  in  which  a  boy  who,  like 
myself,  had  run  on  far  beyond  his  years  in  the  race  of 
life,  could  complete  his  education.  Always  the  great 
emporium  of  vice  and  debauchery,  Paris,  in  its  present 
state,  offers  but  a  faint  picture  of  its  former  self.  The 
license  of  every  kind  that  then  existed  in  the  city,  no 
tongue  can  tell  nor  pen  can  describe.  Every  thing  the 
most  sacred  had  become  a  jest.  Every  moral  tie  was 
broken  without  shame  or  care ;  and  never  did  liberty 
of  speech  and  action  arrive  at  the  consummation  of  a 
total  demoralization  of  the  whole  people,  more  com- 
pletely than  it  had  done,  by  this  time,  in  the  French 
capital.     It  luckily  happened,  however,  that,  though 


44  THE    ADVENTURES   OF 

doubtless  I  might  have  found  plenty  to  initiate  me  into 
all  sorts  of  mysteries  which  I  had  better  not  have 
known,  I  was  too  young  for  the  sort  of  instruction  I 
might  otherwise  have  received,  and  my  nature  was  too 
quick  and  vehement  to  take  pleasure  in  vice  without 
passion. 

All  that  I  found  then  to  amuse  me  in  the  streets  of 
Paris  was  the  gayety,  the  bustle,  and  the  liveliness  of 
the  people,  the  witty  ribaldry  of  their  songs  and  jests, 
their  easily  excited  merriment,  and  their  extravagant 
grimaces.  All  this  certainly  pleased  and  interested  me; 
and  1  met  with  many  a  sight  to  attract  my  attention 
and  arrest  my  steps  as  I  walked  on  to  the  Quai  des  Or- 
fevres.  However,  1  at  length  arrived  there  ;  and  having 
discovered  the  dwelling  of  Jacques  Marlot,  I  went  in 
and  delivered  his  uncle's  note. 

He  was  a  little,  gay,  joyful-looking  man,  not  in  the 
least  resembling  the  worthy  major-domo,  but  with  a 
face  not  unlike  the  busts  of  Socrates,  if  we  can  conceive 
the  countenance  of  the  philosopher  covered  over  with 
a  florid  and  somewhat  wine-imbued  skin,  and  lighted  up 
with  tv^o  sparkling  small  black  eyes,  full  of  unquench- 
able fire  and  malice. 

At  the  time  that  I  entered  he  was  busily  engaged, 
though  in  total  solitude,  in  despatching  the  goodly  form 
of  a  fat  roasted  capon,  which  he  took  care  to  bathe  in 
repeated  draughts  from  a  tankard  of  warm  wine  that 
stood  in  his  chimney  corner.  He  received  me  with  the 
sort  of  gay  civility  which  his  whole  demeanour  be- 
spoke ;  and  opening  his  uncle's  note,  grinned  merrily  at 
the  contents ;  observing  that  his  relation  warned  him 
to  beware  of  printing  any  thing  against  the  court,  as 
the  parliament  and  the  generals  were  all  racing  against 
each  other  to  see  which  should  make  peace  fastest. 

"  Ma  foi,'"'  he  added,  "  I  will  make  my  peace  as  they 
have  made  theirs,  with  arms  in  my  hand ;"  and  setting 
me  down  a  cup,  he  insisted  upon  my  staying  to  drink 
with  him,  which,  after  having  once  tasted  his  potations, 
I  felt  very  well  inchned  to  do.  It  struck  me,  perhaps, 
as  a  little  extraordinary,  that  a  poor  printer,  whose  trade 
was  not  at  that  time  the  most  lucrative  in  Paris,  should 
be  able  to  afford  rich  Burgundy,  and  to  feed  upon  fat 
capon ;  but  I  soon  found  that,  being  of  a  very  unscrupu- 
lous nature.  Master  Jacques  Marlot  obtained  large  prices 
for  printing  all  those  defamatory  libels  against  Mazarin, 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  45 

the  queen,  and  the  whole  court,  which  then  formed  the 
amusement  and  the  reproach  of  the  city.  It  was  his 
rule  never  to  inquire  who  the  authors  were,  provided 
they  paid  him  largely.  The  more  unceremonious  the 
wit  and  biting  the  satire,  the  more  it  agreed  with  the 
tastes  of  the  printer  himself;  and  many  a  noble,  and,  I 
believe  I  miglit  add,  many  a  reverend  pen,  poured  forth 
its  gall  from  under  the  mantle  of  Jacques  Marlot. 

My  promptitude  in  catching  his  bon  mots,  my  readiness 
in  replying  to  them,  my  English  accent,  and  my  insular 
notions,  as  he  called  them,  all  seemed  to  please  and  to 
amuse  the  printer  much  ;  and  after  having,  with  a  rueful 
glance,  divided  the  last  drop  in  the  flagon  equally  be- 
tween himself  and  me,  he  invited  me  cordially  to  come 
back  and  see  him  again  in  a  few  days  at  the  same  hour, 
which  1  did  not  fail  to  do  more  than  once ;  and  many  a 
merry  laugh  have  we  had  together  at  the  follies  and  "the 
vices  of  persons  of  every  rank,  class,  and  condition  in 
the  state.  Indeed,  there  was  such  a  strange  mixture  of 
the  cynic,  the  stoic,  and  the  epicurean,  in  the  whole  life 
and  conduct  of  Jacques  Marlot,  that  1  could  not  help 
looking  upon  him  as  a  great  philosopher. 

Whether  any  one,  who  by  chance  may  read  these 
pages,  will  coincide  in  my  opinion,  I  cannot  tell ;  but 
everyone  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  judging;  for  this 
casual  acquaintance,  formed  under  such  very  common- 
f)lace  circumstances,  went  on  into  after  years,  and  fol- 
lowed me  through  many  a  strange  scene  to  distant 
parts  of  the  land.  Those  scenes,  however,  will  them- 
selves require  too  long  detail  for  me  to  pause  upon  our 
less  interesting  interviews  ;  though  the  conversation  of 
Jacques  Marlot  would,  at  the  time  I  speak  of,  have 
formed  no  bad  jest-book  for  the  Fronde ;  and  on  that 
very  night  I  heard  more  bon  mots  and  anecdotes  in 
half  an  hour  than  had  met  my  ear  for  many  a  day 
before. 

On  my  return  home,  I  found  a  neat  small  room,  not 
far  from  the  apartments  of  the  good  major-domo,  pre- 
pared as  my  lodging;  and  by  the  time  I  had  half  un- 
dressed myself,  in  order  to  go  to  bed,  I  was  surprised  to 
see  the  door  open,  and  Monsieur  de  Villardin  himself 
enter  the  room.  As  his  brow  was  somewhat  grave  and 
stern,  I  imagined  that  he  had  come  to  chide  me  for  my 
absence  during  the  evening ;  and  I  instantly  began  to 
feel  a  spirit  of  rebeUion  at  the  very  thought,  partly  en- 


4G  TIIK    ADVENTURES  OF 

gendered  by  my  old  habits  of  independence,  partly  by 
the  sense  ol"  having  in  a  degree  recovered  it  anew.  To 
my  good  young  lord,  whom  I  had  lately  left,  1  had  been 
bound  by  lies  of  affection  and  gratitude,  which  would 
have  made  me  do  any  thing  to  please  bin),  and  wiiich 
caused  me  to  submit  to  his  orders  or  to  his  rebuke  with 
patience  and  good-will.  Such,  however,  was  not  the 
case  in  regard  to  Monsieur  de  Viliardin,  at  least  as  yet ; 
and  I  determined  to  show  him  that,  though  I  was  per- 
fectly willing  to  give  him  every  sort  of  attendance  when 
he  required  it,  yet  that  I  looked  upon  the  rest  of  my  time 
as  at  my  own  disposal.  I  resolved  to  let  him  know  also, 
that,  though  the  fortunes  of  my  family  had  been  for  some 
time  at  a  low  ebb,  I  had  as  gentle  blood  in  my  veins  as 
he  had  ;  and,  in  short,  1  was  prepared  to  be  as  saucy  and 
impertinent,  I  doubt  not,  as  any  wild,  ungovernable,  and 
hot-headed  boy  could  be,  when,  to  my  surprise,  he  be- 
gan upon  quite  a  different  topic,  without  taking  the 
slightest  notice  of  my  late  absence. 

Setting  down  tlie  taper  that  he  carried,  he  threw  him>- 
self  into  a  large  chair  that  stood  by  the  fire,  and  bidding 
me  put  on  my  vest  again,  as  he  had  a  good  deal  to  say 
to  me,  he  continued,  "  Well,  my  pnge,  we  have  begun 
together,  this  morning,  as  well  as  1  could  wish,  and  I 
find  that  the  character  1  have  received  with. you  does 
you  no  more  than  justice :  and  1  doubt  not  that  every 
hour  will  increase  my  regard  for  you  ;  and  I  shall  take 
care  that  you  have  every  opportunity  of  distinguishing 
yourself  that  you  could  desire  through  life.'" 

This  discourse,  so  different  from  that  I  had  expected, 
was  certainly  very  pleasing  to  me  ;  but  at  the  same  time 
I  had  learned  too  much  of  the  world  not  to  understand 
that  it  was  a  prelude  to  something  else,  which  perhaps 
might  not  be  so  gratifying ;  and  consequently,  I  an- 
swered with  the  words  which  mean  less  than  any  others 
in  the  world,  "  Your  lordship  is  very  good." 

"  Nevertheless,"  proceeded  Monsieur  de  Viliardin, 
"  it  is  but  right  that  we  should  clearly  understand  upon 
what  terms  we  are  to  go  on  together.  Now,"  he  con- 
tinued, assuming  a  frank  and  easy  air, — which  when 
you  see  men  do  you  may  be  perfectly  sure  that  they  are 
cheating  themselves,  and  are  trying  to  cheat  ycu  also, 
— "now,  I  am  not  in  the  least  a  suspicious  man;  far 
from  it ;  by  nature  I  am  quite  the  contrary  ;  neverthe- 
less, I  think  it  but  right  that  every  master  of  a  large 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  47 

household  like  this  should  be  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  all  that  takes  place  in  his  dwelling.  Of  course  you 
will  have  a  great  many  opportunities  of  observing  what 
passes  in  my  family,  and  I  must  require  of  you  to  be 
frank  and  free  with  me  on  all  such  subjects." 

I  did  not  like  the  matter  at  all,  for  I  understood  very 
well  what  he  meant ;  and  I  was  sure  that,  although  he 
felt  some  ditRculty  in  explaining  himself  at  first,  he 
would  not  be  long  before  he  found  an  opportunity  of  do- 
ing so  completely.  However,  I  thought  my  usual 
straightforward  way  was  the  best,  and  I  answered,  "  I  am 
always  frank  and  free,  my  lord.  I  say  what  I  think  to 
everybody,  and  of  everybody." 

"  So  I  have  heard,  so  I  have  heard,"  said  the  duke ; 
*'  and  I  must  desire  that  you  do  so,  particularly  towards 
me,  remembering  that  1  look  upon  a  person  who  would 
see  his  master  wronged  as  fully  more  culpable  than  the 
person  who  wrongs  him." 

"  My  lord,"  I  replied,  seeing  that  we  must  come  to  the 
point  at  last,  "  I  certainly  never  will  see  you  wronged 
without  endeavouring  to  right  you  ;  and  if  I  cannot  do  it 
in  my  ov/n  person,  I  shall  hold  myself  bound  to  tell  you, 
in  order  that  you  may  do  it.  1  am  sure  your  lordship 
does  not  wish  me  to  become  a  spy  upon  anybody,  nor 
would  it  have  any  effect  if  you  did ;  for  I  would  not  re- 
main in  the  house  of  any  one  half  an  hour  who  was  to 
require  such  a  thing  of  me." 

It  is  wonderful  how  many  things  people  will  do,  from 
the  very  name  of  which  they  would  shrink  with  shame 
if  put  into  plain  terms ;  and  though  I  am  perfectly  con- 
vinced that  Monsieur  de  Villardin, — from  some  of  those 
yague  and  visionary  doubts  which  haunt  the  minds  of 
suspicious  men,  the  spectres  of  a  diseased  imagination, 
would  have  liked  me  to  watch  all  the  events  of  any  im- 
portance that  took  place  in  his  house,  and  make  him  a 
full  report  thereof;  yet  he  immediately  testified  great 
disgust  at  the  very  name  of  a  spy,  and  replied,  "  Far 
from  me  be  such  a  thought  for  a  moment,  as  to  propose 
to  you,  young  man,  any  thing  mean  or  dishonourable. 
I  know  you  are  of  gentle  blood,  and  have  served  well 
in  a  noble  cause  ;  and  therefore,  though  I  hold  you 
bound  by  your  duty,  as  you  are  also  by  the  promise  you 
have  just  made,  to  give  me  instant  ^information  if  you 
see  any  one  attempt  to  wrong  me  in  any  way,  yet,  of 


48  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

course,  1  do  not  desire  you  to  become  a  spy  upon  those 
around  you." 

I  saw  evidently  that  he  caught  at  the  promise  I  had 
made,  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  was  sorry  that  I  had  made 
it.  Not  that  I  did  not  consider  myself  bound  by  the 
station  I  held  in  his  family  to  do  exactly  as  I  had  said ; 
but  I  was  a  little  afraid  that  my  s^ood  lord  might  con- 
strue my  words  rather  more  liberally  than  1  had  intended 
them  to  be  understood.  As  ihey  were  spoken,  how- 
ever, there  was  no  help  for  it;  and  though  I  repeated 
over  again, — to  make  the  engagement  as  clear  and  defi- 
nite as  possible, — that  1  would  never  see  him  wronged 
without  endeavouring  to  right  him,  or  without  giving 
him  an  opportunity  of  doing  so  himself,  still  I  was  afraid 
he  might  be  inclined  to  exact,  under  that  promise,  more 
than  I  should  be  inclined  to  concede.  I  found,  indeed, 
afterward,  that  he  himself  very  well  understood,  that 
there  was  another  way  of  making  it  a  point  of  honour 
with  me  to  do  as  he  desired,  which  was  by  loading  me 
with  benefits,  and  bestowing  on  me  that  confidence 
which  would  have  rendered  it  an  act  of  the  greatest  in- 
gratitude on  my  part  to  conceal  from  him  any  attempt 
to  injure  him. 

Satisfied  with  the  promise  I  had  made,  and  deter- 
mined with  regard  to  the  course  he  would  pursue  to- 
wards me,  he  dropped  that  part  of  the  conversation 
there  ;  but  made  me  give  him  a  long  history  of  my 
family  and  my  adventures ;  told  me  that  he  had  been  well 
acquainted  with  Lord  Wilmarton,  my  mother's  father, 
some  fifteen  years  before  ;  and  ended  by  giving  me  an 
assurance,  which  he  nobly  accomplished,  that  hence- 
forth he  would  treat  me  more  as  his  son  than  as  his 
attendant.  He  then  took  up  the  light  and  quitted  the 
chamber,  leaving  me  to  meditate  over  the  future,  which, 
notwithstanding  the  promises  he  had  made,  and  which 
I  fully  believed  he  v/ould  keep,  still  presented  some 
clouds  and  shadows  that  I  certainly  could  have  wished 
away. 

After  this  conversation,  I  was  almost  continually  with 
Monsieur  de  Villardin,  especially  as,  in  all  those  exer- 
cises in  which  noblemen  of  that  day  held  themselves 
bound  to  have  their  pages  well  instructed,  I  was  already 
as  skilful  as  necessary,  and,  consequently,  had  scarcely 
any  other  occupation  than  that  of  attending  upon  the 
duke.   In  the  pages'  room,  matters  soon  assumed  the  state 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  49 

into  which  I  could  have  wished  them  to  fall.  Master 
Gaspard  de  Belleville,  the  eldest  of  my  three  compan- 
ions, submitted  to  necessity  with  a  somewhat  bad  grace ; 
and  the  two  younger,  as  soon  as  they  had  become  recon- 
ciled to  me  as  their  new  comrade,  and  accustomed  to 
my  manners  and  accent,  sought  shelter  under  my  pro- 
tection from  the  tyranny  of  their  former  despot.  The 
old  major-domo  ere  long  acquired  a  great  affection  for 
me ;  and  as  I  was  quite  willing,  from  the  novelty  of  the 
thing,  to  be  petted  as  much  as  any  one  pleased,  he  made 
quite  a  favourite  of  me,  providing  me  with  all  those 
little  comforts  and  luxuries  which  the  chief  domestic 
of  a  great  house  has  always  at  his  disposal. 

Monsieur  de  Villardin  himself  was,  as  Lord  Langleigh 
had  said,  a  man  who  let  no  moment  slip  past  him  un- 
marked by  some  event ;  and,  with  a  spirit  of  restless 
activity, — not  unlike  what  was  my  own  at  that  time, — 
he  took  part  in  every  thing  that  was  going  on.  By  day 
he  was  either  busy  in  the  intrigues  of  his  faction,  or  in 
the  field  with  his  troops ;  and  even  at  night  he  was 
very  often  as  busy  in  beating  up  the  enemy's  quarters, 
or  in  stirring  up  the  Parisians  to  some  new  absurdity. 
In  all  his  expeditions  I  formed  one  of  his  attendants  :  I 
had  constant  employment,  and  both  at  home  and  abroad 
was  as  happy  as  1  could  wish. 

This  state  of  things,  however,  could  not,  of  course, 
last  for  ever ;  and  had  no  other  circumstance  occurred 
to  interrupt  its  duration,  the  gradual  recovery  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  from  the  madness  of  the  Fronde  would 
ultimately  have  put  an  end  to  it ;  but  an  incident  soon 
happened,  to  which  I  shall  now  turn,  and  which  eventu- 
ally occasioned  my  departure  from  Paris  rather  faster 
than  I  approved  of.  The  first  treaty  of  peace  which 
had  been  signed  was  indignantly  rejected,  as  we  have 
seeurbythe  parliament,  the  populace,  and  the  gene- 
rals :  and  the  deputies  were  again  sent  back  to  treat  at 
Ruel.  During  their  conferences,  as  an  armistice  had 
been  refused,  Monsieur  de  Villardin  and  others  took 
care  to  amuse  Mazarin  by  frequent  excursions,  which 
sometimes  were  pushed  to  the  gates  of  St.  Germain. 
Mazarin,  always  timid,  made  concessions  in  proportion 
to  his  alarm  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  as  he  loved  not 
the  sort  of  arms  with  which  the  Parisian  generals  fought 
him,  he  took  care  to  combat  them  with  weapons  pecu- 
liarly his  own.     Three  fresh  armies,  as  I  have  said, 

Vol  1.— C 


60 


THE    ADVENTURES  OF 


were  directing  their  course  towards  Paris  in  support  of 
the  parhament.  In  regard  to  the  one  promised  from 
Normandy,  the  cardinal  tampered  with  the  general,  the 
Duke  de  Longueville,  and  delayed  its  march.  In  regard 
to  the  other,  commanded  by  Turenne,  knowing  the  chief 
to  be  incorruptible,  Mazarin  corrupted  the  men.  The 
whole  army  was  literally  bought ;  and  when  its  general 
was  about  to  begin  his  advance  upon  the  capital,  he  was 
at  once  abandoned  by  his  troops.  The  third,  consisting 
of  Spaniards,  the  cardinal  well  knew  would  not  march 
without  the  others  :  and  having  thus  placed  himself  on 
more  equal  terms  with  the  Parisian  leaders,  he  took 
advantage  of  the  consternation  which  these  events  pro- 
duced to  press  the  treaty  of  peace,  which  was  soon  after 
concluded  and  ratified  by  all  parties,  but  the  populace, 
and  one  or  two  of  the  leaders  who  had  too  great  a  love 
of  faction,  in  the  abstract,  to  yield  to  any  measure  cal- 
culated to  put  it  down.  Thus,  then,  the  war  was 
brought  to  an  end  ;  but  still  so  turbulent  and  disorgan- 
ized was  the  state  of  Paris,  that  the  court  dared  not  set 
foot  within  its  walls  ;  and,  while  the  people  were  com- 
mitting every  sort  of  excess,  and  the  most  scandalous 
libels  upon  Mazarin  and  the  royal  family  were  every 
day  published,  the  parliament,  in  order  to  signalize  their 
zeal  for  their  new  allies,  the  court,  proceeded  against 
the  authors  and  printers  with  the  most  tyrannical 
severity. 

Of  course  my  good  friend  Jacques  Marlot  could 
not  escape,  and  I  one  day  found  old  Jerome  Laborde, 
the  major-domo,  in  great  affliction  on  account  of  his 
nephew,  who  had  been  arrested  that  morning  for  the 
publication  of  the  famous  attack  upon  the  queen,  called 
"  La  Custode."  It  so  happened  that,  by  my  master's 
permission,  I  passed  the  two  following  days  at  St. 
Maur,  with  Lord  Masterton,  who  was  kindness  itself 
towards  me ;  and  on  the  third  morning  I  was  sent  by 
the  duke,  immediately  after  my  return,  to  gain  some  in- 
telligence in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain.  As  I  came 
back,  I  saw  an  immense  crowd  advancing  rapidly  to- 
wards the  Place  de  Greve,  and  crying,  "  Honte  !  honte  ! 
Aux  Mazarins  !  aux  Mazarins !"  Running  my  eye  a 
little  forward,  I  soon  perceived  that  the  cause  of  the 
tumult  originated  in  the  procession  of  the  criminal  lieu- 
tenant and  his  archers  towards  the  place  of  execution, 
whither  they  were  carrying  some  condemned  criminal 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  51 

to  make  his  last  public  appearance  in  the  most  disagree- 
able manner.  As  it  was  evident  that  the  principal  per- 
sonage on  the  scene  was  in  favour  with  the  public, 
I  hastened  forward  to  obtain  a  glance,  when,  to  my 
horror  and  astonishment,  I  beheld  the  jovial  face  of  my 
poor  acquaintance,  Jacques  Marlot,  still  as  jovial  as 
ever,  notwithstanding  his  endeavours  to  assume  a  sober 
and  sedate  demeanour  under  the  very  grave  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was  placed. 

Every  sort  of  mad  enterprise  was  then  as  common  as 
a  hedge  sparrow,  and  some  evil  demon  put  it  in  my 
head  to  rescue  the  unhappy  printer  from  the  hands  of 
Monsieur  le  Bouvreau. 

Among  the  mob  were  a  great  number  of  printers' 
devils,  booksellers'  boys,  and  other  shopmen ;  and  speak- 
ing a  word  or  two  to  those  who  seemed  the  most  zeal- 
ous, our  plan  was  quickly  arranged,  and  spread  like 
wild- fire  among  the  people.  The  crowd  was  every 
minute  increasing;  their  cries  and  execrations  were 
gaining  new  strength  at  each  vociferation  ;  and  I  saw 
Grani,  the  criminal  lieutenant,  turn  his  head  more  than 
once  to  scan  the  aspect  of  the  very  unwelcome  train 
which  now  accompanied  him.  He  soon,  however, 
reached  the  gibbet  in  the  Place  de  Greve,  and  poor  Mar- 
lot  turned, — with  a  face  out  of  which  even  his  rueful 
situation  could  not  banish  entirely  its  habitual  fun, — to 
pronounce,  as  usual,  his  last  oration  : — "  My  friends, 
my  friends  !"  he  cried, "  take  warning !  See  what  comes 
of  a  Mazarinade  !" 

The  name  acted  as  a  watchword,  and  the  moment  it 
was  pronounced,  a  well-directed  volley  of  stones  was 
let  fly  at  the  criminal  lieutenant  and  his  archers,  who 
were  not  prepared  for  that  sort  of  attack.  One  of  the 
men  was  knocked  down ;  the  rest  were  thrown  into  con- 
fusion ;  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  moment,  we  pushed 
on  and  charged  the  panic-struck  officers  of  justice.* 


*  The  Cardinal  de  Retz  mentions  in  his  Memoirs,  that  two  crimi- 
nals were  rescued,  and  seems  to  imply  that  they  were  saved  from 
the  gallows  together.  Joly,  whose  work  forms  a  running  commen- 
tary upon  that  of  De  Retz,  shows  that  the  cardinal  spoke  of 
Jacques  Marlot,  the  printer,  as  one  of  these  culprits,  and  mentions 
his  crime, — though  the  punishment  of  death  for  writing,  or  rather 
for  printing  a  hbel,  may  seem  a  little  severe.  It  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, indeed,  that  "  La  Custode,"  a  copy  of  which  exists  in 
the  British  Museum,  is  a  most  dirty  and  scurrilous  attack  upon  the 
C2 


52  THE    ADVENTURES    CF 

Some  of  the  guards  were  felled  to  the  earth  ;  some  of 
them  fled  as  fast  as  their  legs  would  carry  them.  The 
criminal  lieutenant  was  beaten  severely,  and  glad  to 
escape  with  his  life  ;  and  Jacques  Marlot  was  in  an 
instant  set  at  liberty,  amid  the  shouts  and  gratulations 
of  the  populace. 

Feeling  that  1  had  perhaps  done  a  foolish  thing,  and 
— from  a  knowledge  of  the  delicate  situation  in  which 
the  duke  stood  with  the  court — more  apprehensive  of 
the  consequences  to  him  than  to  myself,  I  made  as 
much  haste  as  I  could  to  get  away  quietly,  without 
even  staying  to  congratulate  the  printer  on  his  deliver- 
ance. As  we  had  completely  put  the  archers  to  flight, 
and  had  quite  satisfied  them  with  their  airing  in  the 
Place  de  Greve  for  one  day,  no  one  opposed  me  on  my 
way  home,  and  I  found  Monsieur  de  Villardin  in  the 
hall,  ready  to  go  out  on  horseback,  accompanied  by  the 
page  I  have  mentioned  under  the  name  of  Gaspard  de 
Belleville.  I  had  generally  found  it  a  good  plan  through- 
out my  httle  life,  whenever  I  had  committed  a  fault 
which  I  was  conscious  might  aff'ect  some  other  persons, 
to  make  them  acquainted  with  it  immediately,  that  they 
might  be  upon  their  guard  against  the  consequences ; 
and,  following  this  rule,  I  at  once  went  up  to  Monsieur 
de  Villardin,  and  informed  him  that  I  believed  I  had 
done  a  very  foolish  thing. 

"  It  is  half  repaired  by  acknowledging  it  so  frankly," 
replied  the  duke ;  "  but  what  is  it,  my  boy,  that  we 
may  do  the  best  to  remedy  it  ]" 

Without  farther  circumlocution  I  informed  him  of 
the  facts,  which  seemed  to  startle  him  a  good  deal. 

"  This  is  unpleasant  indeed,"  he  replied,  "  but  in 
truth,  I  cannot  find  in  my  heart  to  be  angry  with  you ; 
for  I  doubt  not  I  should  have  done  just  the  same  :  and 
what  the  master  would  do,  he  cannot  well  blame  in  the 
page.  We  will  hope,  however,  that  you  have  not  been 
recognised.  Nevertheless,"  he  added,  in  a  low  tone, 
"have  what  clothes  you  may  need  packed  up,  and  be 
ready  to  set  out  at  a  minute's  notice ;  for  in  these  times 
no  one  can  tell  one  moment  what  he  may  have  to  do  the 
next." 


queen ;  but  still,  the  tyranny  of  the  whole  proceeding  against  this 
unhappy  man  seemed  to  justify  the  hatred  which  the  people  con« 
ceived,  about  this  time,  towards  the  great  body  of  Parisian  lawyers. 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  S3 

1  followed  my  lord's  orders  to  the  letter  ;  and  as  soon 
as  he  had  gone  out,  cast  every  thing  that  I  had  that 
was  well  worth  carrying,  into  two  large  saddle-bags. 
In  this  occupation  I  proceeded  most  zealously,  not  hav- 
ing the  slightest  inclination  to  act  as  substitute  for 
Jacques  Marlot  in  the  elevated  station  which  the  crimi- 
nal judge  of  the  Tournelle  court  had  destined  him  to 
fill  that  very  morning.  The  thoughts  of  such  a  con- 
summation to  my  enterprises  disgusted  me  considera- 
bly, as,  of  all  deaths  mider  the  sun,  I  had  the  greatest 
objection  to  that  of  hanging ;  and  the  idea  thereof  occu- 
pied me  so  completely,  that  it  was  not  till  1  had  finished 
the  preparation  of  my  saddle-bags,  that  I  bethought  me 
how  much  interested  the  old  major-domo  might  feel  in 
the  mutual  adventures  which  his  nephew  and  myself 
had  gone  through  that  morning.  As  soon  as  the  idea 
crossed  my  mind,  however,  I  took  my  way  to  the  old 
man's  apartments  ;  and,  as  he  had  heard  of  his  nephew's 
condemnation,  but  not  of  his  deliverance,  I  found  him 
in  a  state  of  great  agitation  and  distress. 

"  Cheer  up,  cheer  up,  Monsieur  Jerome  Laborde,"  I 
said,  as  soon  as  1  had  obtained  admission  ;  "  cheer  up  ; 
things  are  not  so  bad  as  you  suppose." 

The  old  man  shook  his  head,  but  I  went  on  and  told 
him  that  I  had  heard  from  certain  authority  that  his 
nephew  had  been  delivered  by  the  hands  of  the  people. 
He  was  at  first  incredulous,  and  although  I  could  have 
given  him  stronger  proof  than  mere  hearsay,  that  what 
I  asserted  was  correct,  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  or 
right  to  make  any  one  acquainted  with  the  share  I  had 
borne  in  the  rescue,  except  my  lord  and  master :  I 
added,  however,  so  many  assurances,  that  the  old  man 
at  length  began  to  have  some  faith  in  my  statement, 
and  went  out  himself  to  ascertain  the  facts.  I  did  not 
see  him  afterward  till  night ;  but  I  was  very  well 
assured  that  he  must  soon  receive  satisfactory  confir- 
mation of  the  good  tidings  which  I  had  brought  him. 


64  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 


CHAPTER  X. 

Shortly  after  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  return  on  the 
day  of  which  I  have  just  been  speaking,  I  received 
notice  that  I  should  be  required  to  accompany  him  in 
the  evening  to  a  great  supper  at  the  house  of  the  Duke 
de  Bouillon.  As  I  was  beginning,  at  that  time,  from  one 
circumstance  or  another,  to  imagine  that  I  was  in  no 
degree  uglier  than  my  fellow-mortals,  to  find  out  that 
good  looks  were  prized  even  in  a  page,  and  that  a  hand- 
some person  was  not  shown  to  less  advantage  by  ap- 
pearing in  becoming  apparel,  I  took  care  that  the  finest 
of  my  wardrobe  should  be  displayed  on  the  present 
occasion,  where  I  was  sure  of  seeing,  and  in  some  sort 
mingling  with,  all  that  was  bright,  and  noble,  and  beau- 
tiful, in  the  French  capital. 

Although  self-conceit  has  made  many  a  man  very 
comfortable  through  life,  I  do  believe  that  the  pecuhar 
modification  of  the  same  feeling  which  is  generally 
called  vanity,  seldom,  if  ever,  produces  any  thing  but 
disappointment.  We  did  not  arrive  at  the  Hotel  de 
Bouillon  till  more  than  one-half  of  the  company  had 
assembled ;  and,  though  the  scene  was  certainly  as 
splendid  as  youth,  beauty,  wealth,  gayety,  good  taste, 
and  grace  could  render  it,  my  pleasure  was  of  course 
confined  to  seeing  others,  without  attracting  the  slight- 
est attention  myself.  Confounded  with  the  other  pages, 
of  whom  there  was  an  immense  profusion,  nobody,  in  ail 
probability,  ever  saw  me  except  worthy  Monsieur  de 
Vitray,  who  recognised  me  instantly,  and  spoke  a  few 
words  to  me  as  he  passed. 

As  is  usually  the  case,  I  believe,  all  the  visiters  who 
appeared  there  came  with  their  own  thoughts  and  pur- 
poses, and  gave  not  one  idea  to  anybody  else,  except  as 
they  were  connected  with  their  designs  and  pleasures. 
From  the  extraordinary  twist,  too,  that  every  thing  had 
got  in  France,  at  that  time,  the  general  order  of  all 
things  seemed  inverted.  The  bright,  and  the  beautiful, 
and  the  young  of  the  other  sex  gave  up  the  whole  of 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  3^5 

their  conversation  to  politics  and  factious  intrigue; 
while  cunning  statesmen,  deep  lawyers,  and  reverend 
divines,  old  warriors,  and  gray-headed  politicians,  uni- 
versally devoted  themselves  to  making  love  to  every- 
body they  should  not  have  made  love  to. 

I  came  away,  thinking  a  Parisian  party  very  dull ; 
and  sitting  in  the  portiere  of  the  duke's  coach,  who  car- 
ried along  with  him  one  or  two  of  his  particular  friends 
in  the  body  of  the  vehicle,  I  ruminated  over  my  disap- 
pointment ;  too  young,  indeed,  to  investigate  metaphys- 
ically the  sensations  which  I  experienced,  but  quite  old 
enough  to  resolve  that  I  would  never  again  expect  any 
one  to  take  notice  of  me,  either  for  my  fine  clothes  or 
my  good  looks. 

When  we  reached  home,  Monsieur  de  Villardin's 
friends  descended  and  went  in  with  him  to  pay  their 
respects  to  the  duchess,  who,  having  been  slightly  indis- 
posed, had  remained  at  home.  He,  of  course,  accom- 
panied them  into  the  hall,  but,  as  he  passed  me,  he 
paused  a  moment  to  say  in  an  under  voice,  "  Do  not  go 
to  bed."  There  was  a  good  deal  of  anxiety  in  his  eye, 
and  emphasis  in  his  tone,  which  made  me  attach  to  his 
words  a  greater  degree  of  importance  than  they  seemed 
at  first  to  bear.  Nor  was  I  wrong  in  my  interpretation, 
for  in  less  than  half  an  hour  the  old  major-domo  called 
me  out  of  the  page's  room, — in  which  I  had  been  sitting 
with  Gaspardde  Belleville,  whose  spirits  I  had  remarked 
to  be  extravagantly  high, — and  led  me  by  the  hand  to 
his  own  apartment. 

When  he  had  got  me  there,  and  shut  the  door,  good 
Jerome  Laborde  folded  me  in  his  arms,  and  the  tears 
actually  rose  in  his  eyes.  "  I  have  bad  news  for  you, 
my  son,"  he  said ;  "  and  unfortunately  it  happens  that 
your  kindness  to  my  nephew  is  likely  to  prove  your 
ruin.  My  lord  the  duke  has  just  been  telling  me  that  it 
was  you  who  saved  my  poor  nephew,  and  that  the  crim- 
inal heutenant  and  his  myrmidons  have  found  you  out." 

Of  course  the  first  announcement  of  such  a  fact  was 
not  particularly  agreeable  to  me ;  but,  as  I  came  hastily 
to  reflect  upon  my  fate,  and  to  think  that  I  should  again 
be  obliged  to  scamper  off,  and  do  the  best  I  could  for 
myself  in  the  world,  there  seemed  something  so  absurd 
in  the  sort  of  perversity  with  which  fate  destined  me  to 
be  a  wanderer,  that  I  could  not  help  laughing,  notwith- 
standing the  difficulties  of  my  situation. 


56  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

•'  You  laugh,  my  son,"  cried  the  old  man,  in  great  as- 
tonishment ;  "  but  I  can  tell  you  the  business  is  a  very 
serious  one,  and  that  you  might  chance  to  be  shut  up  for 
life  in  the  Bastille." 

"  If  that  is  the  case,"  replied  I,  "  the  matter  is  serious 
indeed.  1  thought  they  would  only  have  hanged  me  ; 
and  I  have  been  so  accustomed  to  risk  hanging  every 
day  of  my  life,  that  it  was  nothing  new  ;  but,  as  to  spend- 
ing my  whole  existence  in  a  prison,  that  is  a  very  differ- 
ent affair ;  and  therefore,  good  Monsieur  Jerome,  I  shall 
get  out  of  the  way  directly,  leaving  you  to  make  my 
excuses  to  my  lord  for  going  without  asking  his  per- 
mission." 

"  You  are  too  quick,  my  son,  you  are  too  quick,"  cried 
the  old  man;  "  it  was  the  duke  himself  wlio  told  me  but 
now  to  speak  to  you.  Do  not  suppose  that  he  intends 
to  leave  you  without  protection.  No,  no,  he  is  a  kind- 
hearted  man,  though  quick  and  jealous  in  his  disposition 
from  a  boy  ;  and  he  bade  me  tell  you  that  he  would  have 
defended  you  to  the  last  for  the  act  you  have  committed, 
even  had  it  not  been  in  favour  of  my  nephew ;  but  that, 
as  it  was  so,  he  will  defend  you  more  eagerly  still.  He 
thinks,  however,  that  for  your  present  safety,  you  had 
better  quit  Paris  as  soon  as  possible  ;  and,  as  he  intended 
to  send  some  one  to  his  estates  in  Brittany  to-morrow, 
he  will  give  you  the  commission,  and  order  a  groom  to 
accompany  you  and  show  you  the  road." 

"  I  am  quite  ready,"  replied  I ;  "  there  is  nothing  to 
be  done  but  to  saddle  the  horses.'" 

"  Never  did  I  see  so  hasty  a  boy,"  cried  the  old  man  ; 
"  how  will  you  get  out  of  the  gates,  I  should  like  to 
know,  when  they  are  closed  as  firmly  as  locks  and  chains 
can  make  them  ?" 

"  I  would  get  over  the  walls,"  replied  I,  smiling. 

"  And  the  horses  V  said  the  old  man,  with  a  smile : 
"  no,  no,  my  son,  you  must  follow  the  plans  laid  down 
for  you  by  my  lord,  who  knows  this  country,  at  least, 
better  than  you  do.  When  you  have  every  thing  ready, 
he  says,  go  to  bed,  and  sleep  for  two  or  three  hours : 
rise  twenty  minutes  before  the  dawn,  and  you  will  find 
horses,  and  the  packet  he  intends  you  to  take,  all  ready 
prepared  for  you.  By  the  time  you  get  to  the  gates 
they  will  be  opened,  and  you  will  have  nothing  else  to 
do  but  to  ride  on  as  fast  as  possible,  till  you  reach  my 
lord's  castle  of  the  Pre  Vallee.     Remain  there  quietly 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  67 

till  you  hear  from  him,  and,  in  a  few  weeks,  he  will  have 
negotiated  your  pardon  with  the  court." 

This  plan  was,  of  course,  one  that  both  suited  my 
wishes  and  provided  for  my  safety  better  than  any  I 
could  have  laid  out  for  myself.  It  ofiered  me  the  pros- 
pect, too,  of  new  scenes  and  adventures  of  a  nature 
somewhat  less  appalling  than  those  which  might  lead 
me  into  a  dungeon  for  life  ;  and  I  consequently  pro- 
ceeded to  put  it  in  execution  with  every  feeling  of  joy 
and  gratitude.  Good  Jerome  Laborde  undertook  to 
have  me  called  at  the  appointed  hour ;  and,  accustomed 
from  infancy  to  take  repose  at  any  scattered  moments 
that  offered  the  possibility  of  doing  so,  I  laid  down,  and 
was  soon  asleep. 

When  I  was  called  in  the  morning  I  found,  much  to 
my  surprise,  that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  himself  was  up ; 
and,  as  I  afterward  discovered,  had  risen  at  that  early 
hour  solely  on  my  account ;  a  mark  of  kindness  and  inter- 
est that  touched  my  heart  the  more,  because  it  was  totally 
unexpected.  After  receiving  from  his  own  hands  a 
packet  of  letters  for  his  different  farmers  and  receivers 
in  Brittany,  accompanied  by  the  assurance  that  he  would 
leave  no  means  untried  to  procure  my  pardon,  I  took 
my  leave,  and,  descending  to  the  court-yard,  found  the 
groom  who  was  to  accompany  me,  holding  two  strong 
horses,  on  one  of  which  already  appeared  the  saddle- 
bags containing  my  wealth  and  apparel.  Old  Jerome 
Laborde  was  also  there,  ready  to  embrace  me  before  I 
took  my  departure  ;  and  ere  we  set  out,  he  did  not  for- 
get to  burden  the  groom  with  a  hissac  loaded  with  vari- 
ous Parisian  delicacies,  to  console  me  on  my  journey. 

The  duke  had  strictly  enjoined  me  to  avoid  all  towns 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris,  and  to  make  my  first 
day's  ride  the  longest  and  the  most  rapid  of  the  whole 
expedition;  and,  consequently,  when  once  we  had 
passed  the  gates,  which  we  were  permitted  to  do  with- 
out question,  we  set  spurs  to  our  beasts,  and  never 
drew  a  rein  for  twenty  miles.  By  this  time,  however, 
I  began  to  feel  in  security  from  the  pursuit  of  any  thing 
but  hunger,  which  was  now  pressing  me  hard,  and,  after 
riding  on  a  few  miles  farther,  we  saw  a  small  open  wood 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Epernon,  into  which  we  retired 
for  the  purpose  of  lightening  good  Jerome  Laborde's 
bissac  of  some  of  its  savoury  contents.  The  groom, 
who,  like  most  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  domestics, 
C3 


58  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

seemed  to  be  a  connoisseur  in  the  good  things  of  this 
life,  spread  forth  the  viands  on  the  table-cloth  afforded 
by  the  green  grass  at  the  bottom  of  a  gentle  slope  in  the 
wood,  with  infinite  taste ;  and  the  fine  pcLte  of  turkey 
and  truffles  which  formed  the  staple  of  the  bissac,  looked 
none  the  worse  for  its  crust  having  cracked  in  more  than 
one  place  under  the  jumbling  of  our  ride,  suffering  the 
topaz-like  jelly  to  shine  forth  through  the  apertures. 

Scarcely,  however,  had  I  time  to  help  myself  to  a  pon- 
derous shce,  and  to  add  thereto  a  portion  of  wild-boar's 
face,  which  exceeded  any  Hampshire  chaw  I  ever  tasted, 
when  I  fancied  that  1  heard  a  low  groan  quite  near.  The 
sound  made  me  start  up  and  look  around;  but  as  I  could 
perceive  nothing,  as  hunger  was  unruly,  and  as  the 
groom,  who  by  this  time  was  deep  in  the  appropriate 
worship  of  the  pasty,  declared  he  had  heard  nothing,  I 
sat  down  again,  and  in  one  attack  very  nearly  demol- 
ished the  slice  I  had  first  assigned  to  myself.  I  then 
added  a  draught  of  excellent  Burgundy  from  a  flask 
which  the  bissac  also  afforded  ;  but  I  now  certainly  be- 
gan to  think  that  our  regale  had  made  the  hamadryads 
envious,  for  another  distinct  groan  followed,  evidently 
proceeding  from  a  large  oak  tree  hard  by,  and  the  mo- 
ment after  the  body  of  a  man  appeared,  cautiously  de- 
scending from  the  higher  boughs.  As  he  swarmed  down 
the  trunk,  tightly  embracing  its  rugged  circumference 
with  his  arms,  which  operation  was  rendered  somewhat 
difficult  by  a  certain  degree  of  obesity  in  his  own  per- 
son, he  every  now  and  then  turned  his  head  partly  over 
his  shoulder,  as  if  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  good  things 
before  us,  exclaiming,  as  he  did  so,  "  It  is  irresistible  1 
— philosophy  is  in  vain — T  resign  myself  to  my  fate  !" 

The  next  minute  his  feet  touched  the  ground,  and 
turning  round  with  a  sort  of  joyous  pirouette,  he  gave 
me  a  full  view  of  my  acquaintance,  Jacques  Marlot. 
I  confess  that  a  suspicion  of  the  identity  of  this  genius 
of  the  oak  and  the  ci-devant  printer  had  crossed  my 
mind,  as  he  descended  the  tree,  from  various  peculiar 
points  in  his  rotund  conformation ;  but  it  appeared  that 
on  his  part,  although  he  had  obtained  a  thorough  percep- 
tion of  what  we  had  been  eating  and  drinking,  his  bird's- 
eye  view  in  the  tree  had  not  enabled  him  to  see  enough 
of  our  faces  to  recognise  my  person,  for  his  first  excla- 
mation was,  as  he  turned  around,  "  Gentlemen,  J  am  an 
hungered  ;  and  if  ye  do  not  give  me  food,  ye  have  com- 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  59 

mitted  a  heinous  sin  in  displaying  that  dehcious  pdU  be- 
fore me. — Ye  gods  !  what  do  I  see  V  he  continued,  as 
his  eye  hghted  full  upon  me :  "  My  phoenix  of  pages — 
my  master  Jean  I'Anglais !  My  deliverer  from  a  more 
elevated  station  than  ever  I  coveted  !  Let  me  embrace 
thee  in  token  of  thanks  for  my  abasement." 

As  the  best  welcome  I  could  give  the  unfortunate 
printer,  1  made  him  partake  liberally  of  our  fare,  and 
suffered  him  to  cheer  his  heart  with  our  flask,  till  half 
his  woes  were  forgotten.  While  he  went  on,  which 
was  nearly  till  pasty  disappeared  and  bottle  sounded 
empty,  I  told  him  that  I  was  now  suffering  on  his  ac- 
count, and  explained  to  him  my  situation.  •At  first,  his 
whole  soul  being  engrossed  in  one  occupation,  he 
seemed  to  feel  but  little  for  my  misadventures ;  but  as 
soon  as  he  had  a  moment's  leisure,  he  looked  shocked ; 
and  when  he  had  finished,  and  could  absolutely  eat  no 
more,  he  expressed,  gracefully  enough,  both  his  grati- 
tude for  my  services,  and  his  grief  for  the  inconve- 
niences to  which  they  had  exposed  me.  He  then  told 
me  that  as  soon  as  he  was  out  of  the  hands  of  the  arch- 
ers the  day  before,  he  had  taken  leave  of  his  friendly 
mob  of  dehverers,  and  trusting  to  nothing  but  his  own 
legs,  had  made  the  best  of  his  way  out  of  Paris. 

"  As  soon  as  1  was  fairly  beyond  the  gates,"  he  added, 
"  I  set  off  running  again,  as  hard  as  I  could  ;  and  when  I 
could  run  no  more,  I  walked ;  and  when  I  could  walk  no 
longer,  I  stood  still,  which  was  exactly  on  the  spot 
where  I  now  am.  I  had  nothing  to  eat ;  and  you  there 
behold  my  beverage,"  he  continued,  pointing  to  a  small 
stream  that  danced  before  us.  "  I  christened  it,  how- 
ever, vin  blanc  d'Epernon  ;  and  though  it  was  not  quite 
so  good  as  the  vin  blanc  d'Epernay,  it  quenched  my 
thirst ;  and  having  dug  up  as  many  pignuts  as  I  could 
find,  I  mounted  yonder  oak  with  all  the  agility  of  a  light 
diet,  and  soothed  myself  to  sleep  by  comparing  mj^self 
to  Diogenes.  How  I  should  have  passed  over  this  day, 
I  do  not  know;  for  I  dared  not  visit  my  house,  which, 
doubtless,  was  also  pillaged  long  ago  by  the  ministers 
of  justice  ;  and  you  may  easily  conceive  that  the  archers 
of  the  criminal  lieutenant  do  not  suffer  those  who  are 
placed  under  their  protection  to  do  so  foolish  a  thing  as 
go  to  the  gallows  with  money  in  their  pockets.  How- 
ever, I  never  despair,  doubting  not  now,  as  heretofore, 
to  make  something  out  of  whatever  lot  Dame  Fortune 


60  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

chooses  to  throw.  Nor  has  she  ever  been  unfavourable 
to  those  who  trust  to  her  bounty;  for  what  can  prove 
her  kindness  more  strongly  than  sending  you  here  for 
my  relief  and  consolation  ?" 

I  complimented  Maitre  Jacques  upon  his  philosophy, 
which  was  much  of  the  same  quality  as  my  own,  and 
begged  him  to  keep  the  wild  boar's  cheek,  which  had 
suffered  less  in  the  encounter  than  the  pasty,  as  another 
token  of  fortune's  favour.  I  found,  however,  that  he 
was  very  desirous  of  accompanying  us  on  our  journey, 
and  talked  of  my  horse  being  strong  enough  to  carry 
two.  The  groom  also  seconded  his  proposal  in  a  way 
that  1  thought  somewhat  extraordinary:  but,  neverthe- 
less, at  the  risk  of  appearing  selfish,  I  put  a  decided 
negative  upon  it,  not  so  much  upon  my  own  account  as 
because  I  thought  that  it  might  place  my  lord  in  very 
unpleasant  circumstances,  if  the  criminal  who  had  just 
been  rescued  from  the  gallows,  and  the  page  who  had 
helped  to  rescue  him,  were  found  riding  to  his  estates 
in  Brittany,  guided  by  one  of  his  own  grooms. 

I  represented,  however,  to  Jacques  Marlot,  that  in  all 
probability  the  officers  of  justice  were  after  us  both  by 
this  time  ;  and  that,  although  in  some  cases  union  was 
security,  in  this  instance  our  best  hope  of  escape  lay  in 
separating,  especially  as  it  was  more  than  probable  that 
the  knowledge  of  my  being  attached  to  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin  might  make  the  archers  follow  upon  the  very  road 
I  was  pursuing. 

This  last  argument  was  conclusive  with  the  printer ; 
and  as,  thanks  to  the  bounty  of  Lord  Masterton,  I  was 
still  furnished  with  more  money  than  I  knew  how  to 
employ,  I  added  thirty  crowns  to  the  breakfast  I  had 
given  my  acquaintance,  and  left  him  to  continue  his 
journey  full  of  renewed  hope  and  gratitude. 

The  groom  who  accompanied  me  seemed  to  take  a 
greater  interest  in  Jacques  Marlot  than  the  length  of 
their  intercourse  warranted,  and  inquired  very  particu- 
larly into  the  route  he  was  likely  to  pursue ;  but  the 
printer,  according  to  the  good  English  proverb,  was  too 
old  a  bird  to  be  taken  by  the  chaff  which  my  guide 
spread  before  him ;  and  with  a  cunning  smile  evaded  his 
questions,  whispering  to  me,  as  he  embraced  me  at  part- 
ing, "Beware  of  your  guide." 

Early — too  early  had  I  learned  to  distrust  my  fellow- 
creatures,  a  lesson  which  we  have  unfortunately  too  fre- 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  6^1 

quent  opportunities  of  repeating  in  our  course  through 
the  world  ever  to  forget,  when  once  the  sweet  confi- 
dence of  innocence  and  inexperience,  like  the  bloom 
upon  ripe  fruit,  has  been  brushed  away  by  the  first  touch 
of  the  polluting  world.  1  had  seen  fully  enough,  how- 
ever, to  doubt  the  faith  of  my  present  conductor,  and  I 
resolved  to  watch  him  closely  as  we  proceeded,  not 
well  knowing  what  particular  line  his  roguery  might 
take,  but  suspecting  strongly  that  he  was  not  the  most 
honest  of  servants,  nor  likely  to  prove  the  most  infalli- 
ble of  guides. 

It  luckily  so  happened  that  the  saddle-bags  containing 
my  stores  of  all  kinds  were  upon  my  own  horse,  and 
therefore  I  possessed  the  power  of  directing  all  our 
movements,  as  well  as  the  right  of  doing  so,  which  my 
station  and  my  lord's  commands  conferred.  Nor  was  it 
at  all  unpleasant,  I  confess,  to  reflect  that,  in  the  event 
of  any  dispute  arising  between  myself  and  my  com- 
panion, who  had  been  directed  in  all  respects  to  consider 
himself  as  my  servant,  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  ride 
away,  and  leave  him  to  do  the  best  for  himself, — which 
reflection  was  the  more  especially  gratifying,  as  I  be- 
lieved he  might  obtain  a  considerable  reward  by  betray- 
ing me,  and  did  not  much  doubt  that  he  had  some 
thoughts  of  the  kind  in  his  own  mind. 

I  showed  him,  at  least,  that  expedition  was  part  of 
my  plan ;  for  as  soon  as  we  were  once  more  in  our  sad- 
dles, I  pushed  forward  with  all  speed,  and  accomplished 
nearly  forty  miles  more  before  night.  A  considerable 
town  lay  at  the  distance  of  a  few  miles  to  our  right,  and 
thither  my  guide  strongly  recommended  me  to  proceed, 
lauding  to  the  skies  the  accommodation  we  should  there 
meet  with ;  but  I  took  my  own  plan,  and  riding  on  till  I 
espied  a  neat  cabaret  in  a  village,  halted  there,  prefer- 
ring the  risk  of  a  bad  supper  to  the  risk  of  an  unpleasant 
lodging. 

The  next  day  we  proceeded  in  the  same  manner, 
though  not  at  the  same  rate  ;  taking  whatever  refresh- 
ment we  needed  at  the  smallest  and  most  retired  places 
I  could  find ;  and  though  the  worthy  groom  more  than 
once  attempted  to  prove  restive,  and  to  treat  me  as  a 
mere  boy,  he  found  that  he  had  to  do  with  one  who  had 
managed  shrewder  men  than  himself.  It  soon  became 
apparent  that,  though  our  horses  were  strong  and  well 
seasoned  to  hard  work,  it  would  take  us  rather  more 


62  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

than  four  days  to  reach  the  place  of  our  destination; 
but  for  the  kst  hundred  miles  I  found  my  companion 
much  more  easily  managed,  yielding  at  once  to  my  will 
with  the  best  grace  in  the  world,  which  conduct  pleased, 
though  it  did  not  deceive  me. 

Sudden  changes,  without  an  apparent  cause,  always 
afford  very  good  reasons  for  suspicion  ;  and  it  was  clear 
enough  that  the  alteration  in  the  good  groom's  be- 
haviour had  not  taken  place  from  any  increased  rever- 
ence for  myself. 

"  Whatever  it  is  he  intends  to  do,"  I  thought,  as  I  re- 
marked this  change  in  his  demeanour,  "  the  fellow  has 
laid  out  his  plan,  and  thinks  it  quite  secure.  He  must 
have  fixed,  too,  upon  some  spot  for  executing  it  towards 
the  end  of  our  journey,  since  he  is  so  indifferent  as  to 
the  way  we  take  here.  I  will  watch  him  well,  however, 
at  every  mile."  This  resolution  I  kept  to  the  letter, 
never  suffering  him  to  be  out  of  my  sight  for  a  minute  ; 
but  nothing  suspicious  occurred  till  the  close  of  our 
fourth  day's  journey,  when  he  declared,  that  since  I  was 
so  fond  of  hard  riding,  he  thought  we  might  get  on  to 
Rennes  that  night. 

I  did  not  exactly  know  how  far  it  was  to  Rennes,  for 
had  I  been  aware  that  it  was  at  the  distance  of  twenty 
miles,  when  our  horses  were  already  nearly  knocked 
up,  I  should  have  concluded  that — calculating  on  my 
distaste  to  any  thing  he  proposed — he  wanted  me  to  stay 
where  we  were,  and  therefore  suggested  that  we  should 
proceed  farther.  I  certainly  fell  into  the  trap;  and 
simply  because  he  desired  to  go  on,  determined  to  halt 
at  the  next  village. 

When  we  i^ached  it,  the  first  house  I  espied  was  a  neat 
cabaret,  and  drawing  in  my  rein  I  sprang  to  the  ground, 
announcing  my  determination  of  sleeping  there,  A  grin 
of  satisfaction  on  the  groom's  face  was  the  first  thing 
that  excited  suspicion  in  my  mind  that  I  had  overreached 
myself;  but  the  countenance  of  mine  host,  who  now  ap- 
peared, confirmed  my  doubts;  and  as  he  spoke  to  the 
servant  as  an  old  friend,  I  soon  found  that  I  had  made  a 
terrible  mistake.  On  inquiring  the  distance  to  Rennes, 
too,  and  finding  that  our  horses  could  by  no  means  have 
accomplished  it,  I  saw  that  the  attempt  had  been  pro- 
posed solely  to  make  me  do  the  contrary;  and  thence 
deducing  that,  at  this  very  spot,  the  consummation  of 
the  groom's  manosuvres  was  destined  to  take  place,  of 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  63 

course  I  determined  to  be  all  eyes,  ears,  and  under- 
standing. 

The  landlord's  daughter,  a  very  pretty  frank-faced 
brunette  of  about  twenty,  attracted  by  my  gay  dress, 
and  feeling  that  kindness  which  all  women  experience 
towards  extreme  youth,  soon  came  up  to  me,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  we  were  great  friends ;  but  1  could  not 
attend  to  half  her  civil  offers  of  the  various  sorts  of  re- 
freshment that  the  house  afforded,  on  account  of  my 
anxiety  to  keep  watch  over  the  groom.  In  this  endeav- 
our I  was  tolerably  successful  for  some  time,  and  I  do 
not  think  he  obtained  an  opportunity  of  exchanging  one 
vi^ord  with  the  landlord,  till  we  had  concluded  our  sup- 
per, except,  indeed,  such  as  related  to  the  general  affairs 
of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  whose  name  was  well-known 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  to  the  state  of  Paris. 
All  this  time,  however,  1  had  another  subject  of  anxiety 
in  my  saddle-bags,  which  were  left  up  stairs  in  the 
chamber  assigned  to  me  ;  and  after  1  had  sufficiently  re- 
freshed myself,  I  was  tempted  thither  to  see  that  all  was 
safe,  thinking  that  I  should  be  down  again  in  time  to 
prevent  much  private  conversation. 

I  was  wrong;  and  on  again  entering  the  kitchen  I 
found  the  places  of  both  the  landlord  and  the  groom  va- 
cant, while  the  host's  mother  sat  by  the  fire  dozing, 
and  the  pretty  brunette  was  spinning  beside  her  with 
great  eagerness. 

As  soon  as  ever  I  appeared,  the  latter  beckoned  me 
to  her,  and  said,  in  a  low  voice,  "  You  are  betrayed, 
mon  pauvre  gargon ;  but  if  you  would  hear  how,  go  out 
at  that  back-door,  run  along  at  the  top  of  the  bank  as 
quietly  as  you  can,  and  make  the  best  use  of  your  ears." 

I  instantly  followed  her  advice,  and  opening  the  door 
to  which  she  pointed,  soon  found  myself  in  the  little 
court  of  the  auberge,  which  again  opened  into  what 
seemed  the  garden  of  a  guingette,  surrounded  on  three 
sides  by  walls,  and  on  the  fourth,  which  lay  to  my  right 
hand,  flanked  by  a  high  cliffy  bank  that  sloped  down  to- 
wards the  door  at  which  I  stood.  It  was  night,  and  the 
moon  had  not  yet  risen,  but  there  was  still  light  enough 
remaining  to  let  me  see  or  rather  divine  all  this,  and 
running  up  the  bank,  and  along  the  edge,  with  as  noise- 
less a  foot  as  possible,  I  soon  heard  voices  speaking  in 
the  garden  below  me.  I  crept  on  as  fast  as  I  could,  and 
the  next  moment  clearly  distinguished  the  words  mad© 


64  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

use  of.    The  gn^ooni  was  acting  the  orator  as  I  came  up, 
and  proceeded  as  follows : — 

"  No,  no,  that  won't  do  at  all,  Monsieur  Parnac  ;  for 
if  he  were  to  be  taken  in  your  house,  under  my  guidance, 
most  likely  my  good  lord  would  turn  me  to  the  door,  if 
he  did  not  throw  me  out  of  the  window,  and  would  cer- 
tainly ruin  you  here  for  your  pains.  You  do  not  know 
what  a  man  he  is — so  sharp,  if  you  give  him  the  least 
cause  for  suspicion  !  I  do  believe  he  finds  out  when  one 
is  going  to  do  any  little  trick,  even  before  one  knows  it 
one's  self.  I  remember  his  turning  off  his  chief  ecuyer 
for  merely  whispering  in  the  street  with  a  maquignon, 
who  was  bringing  him  a  horse  for  sale.  No,  no,  let  it 
be  managed  my  way.  Send  off  some  one  to-night,  and 
have  the  officers  stationed  about  the  watering-place,  by 
Meri,  you  know.  Let  them  take  me  too,  seemingly, 
for  being  in  his  company;  and  so  my  lord's  suspicions 
will  be  set  at  rest,  and  I  shall  be  carried  back  to  Paris 
too,  where  I  shall  get  the  reward." 

"  Ay,  but,  Maitre  Pierre,  are  you  quite  sure  of  the  re- 
ward 1"  demanded  mine  host. 

"  All  I  can  tell  thee,  Parnac,  is  this,"  rephed  the 
groom.  "I  heard  it  offered  by  proclamation,  as  we 
were  riding  home,  the  evening  before  I  came  away.  A 
thousand  crowns  were  to  be  given  to  any  one  who  would 
deliver  up  the  leader  of  those  that  had  rescued  the  crimi- 
nal, and  two  thousand  crowns  to  those  who  would  de- 
liver up  the  criminal  himself.  I  would  have  don&  it  my- 
self, if  I  had  known  at  the  time  that  this  boy  was  the 
person;  and  I  could  have  managed  it  easily  as  we  came 
through  the  city.  But  I  never  found  it  out,  as  I  tell  you, 
till  we  met  with  this  Jacques  Marlot,  and  then  I  heard 
them  talk  about  it  quite  as  if  they  were  in  security." 

"  Well,  well,  Pierre,  I  think  thou  wilt  get  thy  thou- 
sand crowns,"  answered  the  landlord,  "  and  they  know 
how  to  do  these  things  so  secretly  at  the  court,  that 
thou  mayest  get  them  and  not  lose  thy  master's  service 
either ;  but  tell  me,  what  am  I  to  getV 

"  Why,  of  course,  I  will  pay  thee  for  the  man  and 
horse  sent  to  the  city,"  replied  the  groom. 

"Ay,  but  that  will  not  be  quite  enough,"  answered 
mine  host,  "  to  pay  me  for  risking  your  good  lord's 
custom  and  patronage.  Something  more  !  something 
more !  good  Peter,  or  thou  mayest  ride  to  Rennes  to- 
night thyself." 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  65 

"  Well,"  answered  Peter,  "  I  will  tell  you  what,  Par- 
nac ;  the  officers  shall  bring  him  on  here,  and  while 
we  halt  to  refresh,  you  and  I  will  have  the  picking  of 
those  saddle-bags  of  his,  in  which  there  are  a  good  thou- 
sand crowns  besides.  If  he  finds  them  gone  and  com- 
plains, it  will  pass  for  a  piece  of  the  archers'  handiwork, 
and  no  inquiry  will  be  made." 

"  Ay,  now  thou  speakest  reason,"  answered  his  re- 
spectable friend,  "  and  I  will  send  off  directly.  At  the 
half-way  watering-place  thou  sayest;  but  at  what  hour'? 
We  must  name  some  hour  for  the  officers  to  be  there." 

"  Say  nine  o'  the  clock,"  answered  the  groom ;  "  we 
shall  not  be  there  till  eleven ;  but  they  must  wait,  you 
know,  they  must  wait." 

"  Well,  it  shall  be  done  without  delay,"  replied  the 
host ;  "  but  now,  hie  you  in,  Pierre,  for  you  say  the  boy 
is  as  sharp  as  your  master,  and  may  suspect  us.  Yet 
stay ;  remember,  if  you  fail  me  about  the  bags,  I  will  do 
for  you  with  your  lord.     So  keep  faith." 

The  groom  replied  at  some  length,  but  as  their  farther 
conversation  seemed  likely  to  refer  alone  to  their  pri- 
vate affairs,  I  made  the  best  of  my  way  back  to  the 
house,  and  ere  either  groom  or  landlord  returned,  had 
gained  sufficient  information  from  my  pretty  brunette, 
in  regard  to  the  roads,  to  serve  my  purpose  for  the  next 
day.  I  found  that,  at  the  distance  of  about  four  miles 
from  the  village,  the  highway  was  intersected  by  an- 
other, which  led  away  in  the  very  direction  I  wished  to 
take.  It  was  neglected,  however,  and  heavy,  she  said, 
passing  through  some  wide  forest  ground,  which  always 
affords  a  bad  foundation ;  and  since  the  new  road  had 
been  made,  she  added,  few  people  ever  travelled  the  old 
one,  except  the  couriers  for  St.  Malo,  who  went  that 
way  for  the  purpose  of  dropping  packets,  and  sometimes 
sums  of  money  at  various  small  towns  through  which  it 
alone  passed.  It  used,  she  said,  to  have  a  bad  reputa- 
tion for  robbers,  and  about  three  months  before,  one  of 
the  royal  messengers  had  been  plundered,  but  since  that 
time  she  had  heard  of  no  farther  outrage. 

As  she  was  speaking,  the  groom  came  in,  and  to  break 
off  a  conversation  I  did  not  want  him  to  hear,  I  asked 
him  sharply  where  he  had  been  so  long.  He  replied 
that  he  had  been  tending  his  horses ;  and  to  put  him 
completely  off  his  guard,  I  ordered  them  to  be  at  the 
door  exactly  at  the  hour  on  which  1  found  he  had  already 


66  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

calculated.  He  promised  to  be  punctual,  and  not  doubt- 
ing that  he  would  be  so,  I  soon  after  retired  to  bed. 
Danger  of  any  kind  never  made  me  sleep  less  soundly, 
but  I  confess  that,  on  this  occasion,  it  was  long  before 
I  could  close  my  eyes  ;  but  it  was  self-reproach,  not  ap- 
prehension, kept  me  awake.  I  had  been  twice  betrayed 
into  an  act  of  egregious  folly  during  that  one  journey, 
and  I  began  to  think  I  was  losing  the  acuteness  which 
had  been  my  most  serviceable  quality.  I  could  have 
pardoned  myself,  perhaps,  for  suffering  the  groom  to 
cheat  me  into  staying  where  we  then  were ;  but  for 
babbhng  myself,  or  suffering  Jacques  Marlot  to  babble 
in  the  hearing  of  a  third  person,  I  rated  myself  for  a 
good  hour  after  I  was  in  bed. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

I  WAS  up  and  watchful  early  the  next  morning ;  for 
although  I  had  now  obtained  as  much  information  in 
regard  to  my  worthy  guide's  purposes  as  was  necessary 
to  enable  me  to  shape  my  own  plans  thereby,  I  thought 
it  better  to  prevent  him,  as  far  as  possible,  from  organ- 
izing his  scheme  more  completely  with  the  landlord,  and 
providing  against  contingencies.  By  seeing  a  bespat- 
tered horse  standing  in  the  yard,  and  the  complacent 
countenances  both  of  the  groom  and  the  landlord,  I  di- 
vined that  their  messenger  had  returned  from  Rennes, 
or  from  whatever  other  town  they  had  sent  to  in  search 
of  officers  to  apprehend  me,  and  that  all  their  arrange- 
ments had  hitherto  been  successful.  Trusting,  however, 
that  they  would  find  that  such  calculations,  formed  with- 
out the  consent  of  so  principal  a  party  as  myself,  would 
be  more  difficult  to  execute  than  they  anticipated,  I  took 
my  breakfast  in  great  tranquillity,  and  as  soon  as  the 
horses  were  ready,  paid  my  score  and  set  out. 

The  groom  was  in  great  glee,  which  continued  unin- 
terrupted for  four  good  miles  of  our  morning's  ride  ;  but 
at  length  I  began  to  see  before  us  the  division  of  the 
roads,  with  the  finger-post  that  directed  weary  travellers 
towards  their  destination,  and  I  now  prepared  myself  for 
the  execution  of  my  design.     Not  knowing  whether  I 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  67 

might  not  have  a  severe  struggle  to  effect  it,  I  felt  that 
my  pistols  were  free  in  the  holsters,  and  as  we  came  to 
the  carrefour,  drew  in  my  rein,  and  gazed  up  at  the  fin- 
ger-post. There,  written  in  large  characters,  certainly 
appeared  Rennes  !  Paris  !  pointing  either  way,  to  the 
road  towards  which  our  horses'  heads  were  turned,  or  to 
that  which  we  had  just  travelled.  On  the  right-hand 
board,  however,  was  written  St.  Malo,  and  as  the  groom 
was  quietly  riding  on  in  the  direction  of  Rennes,  I 
shouted,  "  Holla  !  where  are  you  going,  good  Peter  ?" 

He  came  back  with  a  sweet  complacent  countenance, 
and  told  me  that  he  had  been  going  on  the  road  to  Ren- 
nes, which  was  the  only  one  we  could  follow  ;  but  I  took 
the  liberty  of  differing  with  him  in  opinion,  stating,  that 
I  thought  the  road  to  St.  Malo  would  do  just  as  well. 
He  assured  me  that  I  was  mistaken ;  that  it  would  lead 
me  at  least  ten  miles  to  the  right  of  the  spot  towards 
which  my  steps  ought  to  be  directed  ;  that  it  was  so  bad 
our  horses  could  not  travel  it ;  that  it  was  infested  by 
robbers  of  the  worst  description  ;  and,  in  short,  that 
every  sort  of  evil  under  the  sun  awaited  the  unfortunate 
travellers  who  obstinately  pursued  that  road. 

1  listened  to  the  whole  detail  as  calmly  and  attentively 
as  possible  ;  and  then,  much  to  his  surprise,  I  informed 
him  that  1  loved  robbers,  delightedin  bad  roads,  enjoyed  a 
roundabout  more  than  a  straightforward  track,  and  was 
contented  to  undergo  all  the  evils  that  he  threatened  for 
the  sake  of  following  the  path  to  which  1  had  a  fancy. 
As  the  matter  had  now  become  serious,  and  the  success 
or  failure  of  his  scheme  depended  upon  the  next  ten 
steps,  the  worthy  groom  took  it  up  e?i  cavalier,  put  on  a 
blustering  aspect,  stood  up  in  the  stirrups  with  the  frown 
of  a  Sylia,  and  told  me  that  he  would  submit  to  such 
whims  no  longer,  but  that  go  I  must  on  the  way  which 
he  thought  right. 

In  reply  to  this  I  reminded  him  of  one  or  two  things 
which  had  occurred  to  me  since  1  had  become  attached 
to  Monsieur  De  Villardin,  and  in  which  my  opponents 
had  generally  been  worsted,  when  our  contention  came 
to  manual  operations.  I  believe,  indeed,  that  I  had  es- 
tabhshed  a  very  tolerable  reputation  for  never  suff'ering 
any  thing  of  the  kind  that  I  undertook  to  remain  unfin- 
ished or  imperfect ;  and,  as  I  was  both  better  armed  and 
mounted  than  himself,  my  companion  was  easily  con^ 
vinced  that  it  would  be  wiser  to  abandon  every  thing 


68  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

like  compulsory  measures  towards  me.  He  declared, 
however,  that  although  he  should  certainly  not  attempt 
to  force  nie  to  do  what  he  thought  right,  he  would  take 
very  good  care  not  to  follow  me  on  such  a  road  as  that 
which  I  was  determined  to  pursue. 

Under  some  circumstances  1  might  not  have  been  very 
profoundly  grieved  at  the  idea  of  losing  his  company ;  for 
in  general  I  had  fully  sufficient  reliance  on  myself  to  be 
perfectly  at  my  ease  when  1  was  quite  alone.  In  the 
present  case,  however,  as  I  strongly  suspected  that  his 
design  was  not  to  deprive  me  of  his  society  for  long,  but 
rather  to  restore  it,  augmented  by  the  company  of  the 
officers  from  Rennes,  I  determined  to  entreat  his  stay 
with  me  ;  and,  as  the  strongest  inducement  that  I  could 
hold  out  to  him,  I  took  one  of  the  pistols  from  my  sad- 
dle-bow, and  levelling  it  at  his  head,  with  the  distance 
of  about  ten  yards  between  us,  I  ordered  him  to  turn  his 
horse  up  the  St.  Malo  road  without  more  ado,  or  I  would 
shoot  him  on  the  spot.  Though  I  saw  him  turn  very 
pale  at  this  intimation,  he  aff'ected  to  laugh,  declaring 
that  I  must  be  in  jest ;  and  I  thought  I  perceived  that  he 
hesitated,  whether  to  obey  or  to  take  his  chance,  and 
set  spurs  to  his  horse.  The  clicking  of  the  lock  of  the 
pistol,  judiciously  timed,  brought  his  doubts  to  a  conclu- 
sion, and  gave  the  preponderance  to  obedience.  He 
said  that  he  would  obey,  of  course,  if  I  positively  di- 
rected him,  for  that  the  duke  had  given  him  strict  orders 
to  follow  my  commands  implicitly. 

"  Extremely  well  you  have  obeyed  !"  cried  I ;  "  but, 
without  farther  words,  turn  your  horse  up  the  road,  for 
I  am  not  to  be  trifled  with  any  longer." 

"  Well,  well,"  he  replied,  as  he  slowly  drew  his  bridle 
in  the  direction  that  I  pointed  out,  "  it  was  only  for  your 
own  good  I  spoke  ;  and  if  you  will  take  a  bad  and  dan- 
gerous road,  the  consequence  be  upon  your  own  head." 

As  I  thought  that  there  was  no  use  in  driving  him  to 
desperation,  I  did  not  choose  to  let  him  know  how  inti- 
mately acquainted  I  was  with  the  good  designs  he  en- 
tertained in  my  favour ;  but  pausing,  pistol  in  hand,  till  I 
saw  him  fully  launched  upon  the  St.  Malo  road,  I  then 
wheeled  my  horse  and  followed,  determined  to  keep  all 
my  discoveries  to  my  own  breast  till  such  time  as  I  could 
confide  them  to  Monsieur  De  Villardin.  As  soon  as  I 
became  sure  that  retreat  was  impossible,  and  that  my 
companion  must  go  forward  on  the  road  which  I  pointed 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  69 

out,  I  dropped  my  hostile  attitude,  replaced  my  pistol  in 
the  holster,  and,  joining  him  again,  endeavoured  to  enter 
into  conversation  as  if  nothing  had  happened  to  disturb 
our  equanimity  ;  but,  I  believe,  in  this  1  expected  more 
from  human  nature  than  human  nature  could  afford ;  the 
man  was  disappointed  of  a  good  thousand  crowns,  be- 
sides what  he  had  called  the  pickings  of  my  saddle-bags; 
and  he  likewise  laboured  under  the  mortification  of  hav- 
ing been  outwitted  and  bullied  by  a  mere  boy  ;  so  that  he 
well  might  be,  what  he  really  was,  savage  and  sullen  for 
many  miles  of  the  road.  In  addition  to  his  other  causes 
of  wrath,  I  soon  perceived  that  he  was  not  without  some 
apprehension  that  I  had  discovered  his  designs ;  and  I 
doubted  not,  that  if  he  could  make  himself  perfectly  sure 
that  such  was  the  case,  he  would  soon  bring  the  matter 
between  us  to  a  struggle  for  hfe.  I  was  accustomed  to 
such  things,  however,  and  I  did  not  make  myself  at  all 
uneasy  on  that  account ;  but  keeping  constantly  on  my 
guard, — for  there  is  never  any  telling  what  may  happen 
next  in  such  affairs, — I  rode  on,  taking  care  that  an  in- 
terval of  two  or  three  yards  should  always  exist  between 
his  hand  and  my  bridle-rein ;  and  where  the  road  was 
not  sufficiently  wide  enough  for  that  purpose,  I  made  him 
go  on  before,  and  followed  a  few  steps  behind. 

That  road,  however,  deserves  a  fuller  description,  for 
it  was  as  pleasant  a  road  as  ever  1  travelled  in  my  life, 
excepting  a  few  spots,  of  each  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a 
half  in  length,  where  a  sandy  soil  rendered  it  heavy 
and  fatiguing.  A  little  beyond  the  place  where  we  first 
entered  upon  it,  a  low  stone  wall  marked  the  ancient 
boundary  of  a  forest.  Even  at  that  time,  however,  the 
large  trees  had  retreated  more  than  a  mile  from  the  ex- 
treme limit  of  the  wood  ;  and  the  space  that  intervened 
between  the  wall  and  the  real  forest,  was  covered  entirely 
with  the  sort  of  brushwood,  or,  as  the  French  call  it, 
.  taillis,  which  rises  on  the  cutting  down  of  larger  timber. 
This  gave  us  a  fair  view  of  the  kind  of  ground  over 
which  the  forest  extended,  which  was  of  so  broken  and 
irregular  a  nature, — full  of  pits,  dells,  banks,  and  ravines, 
that  it  would  have  required  infinite  labour  to  render  it 
productive  of  aught  but  that  which  then  covered  it. 
After  the  road  began  to  wind  in  among  the  higher  trees, 
some  of  which  appeared  of  great  antiquity,  we  lost  all 
sight  of  the  surrounding  country,  except  where,  every 
now  and  then,  the  ground  had  been  cleared  by  some 


70  THE    ADVENTURES  OF 

accidental  circumstance,  or  where  the  track  that  we 
were  pursuing  ascended  to  some  commanding  height. 
On  these  occasions,  indeed,  we  sometimes  obtained  a 
very  splendid  view  beyond  the  forest,  over  tracts  of  rich 
and  cultivated  land  ;  and,  as  I  was  beginning  about  that 
time  to  find  out  that  the  face  of  nature  was  a  very  beau- 
tiful thing,  and  to  enjoy  the  aspect  of  a  fine  country  with 
a  sort  of  romantic  delight,  I  often  paused  to  gaze  for  a 
moment  on  any  prospect  that  thus  caught  my  eye. 
While  thus  engaged,  my  companion  rode  on  in  sulky 
silence  ;  but  1  never  suft'ered  him  to  go  far  without  my 
society,  lest  any  of  the  roads  which  intersected  the 
forest,  and  which  I  could  not  of  course  be  expected  to 
know,  should  afford  him  an  opportunity  of  deviating 
from  the  prescribed  track  before  I  thought  fit  to  permit 
him  to  do  so. 

1  had  just  made  one  of  these  pauses,  and  my  com- 
panion had  just  ridden  on  in  the  manner  which  I  have 
described,  when,  on  looking  after  him  to  see  how  far 
he  had  proceeded,  I  thought  1  perceived  a  brighter 
gleam  of  sunshine  than  usually  enlivened  the  gloom  of 
the  wood,  streaming  across  the  road  a  little  beyond  the 
point  at  which  he  had  arrived.  Suspecting  that  it  might 
be  shining  down  a  cross-road,  I  set  spurs  to  my  horse, 
and  was  nearly  up  to  him  before  he  reached  the  little 
brake.  I  had  just  time,  however,  to  gain  a  more  accu^ 
rate  knowledge  of  the  spot,  and  to  perceive  that  it  was 
a  gap,  but  not  a  road,  down  which  the  light  was  stream- 
ing, when  there  came  a  quick  bright  flash  from  the  wood, 
and,  at  the  same  moment,  the  groom  fell  headlong  to 
the  ground,  while  his  horse  dashed  on,  masterless,  along 
the  track  before  us,  and  my  charger,  after  rearing 
violently,  rolled  over,  dying  the  sand  with  its  blood. 

These  sort  of  surprises  are  generally  followed  by  a 
speedy  explanation  ;  and  the  appearance  of  four  stout, 
well-dressed,  good-looking  gentlemen,  with  firelocks  in 
their  hands,  pistols  in  their  girdles,  and  swords  by  their 
sides,  at  once  gave  me  a  clear  insight  into  the  whole 
affair.  As  my  poor  horse,  panting  in  the  agonies  of 
death,  lay  heavy  upon  my  foot  and  ankle,  which  he  had 
crushed  beneath  him  in  his  fall,  I  was  in  no  condition  to 
offer  any  resistance,  even  had  it  been  wise  to  do  so 
against  such  superior  numbers.  The  groom,  indeed, 
was  still  less  capable  of  opposing  any  measures  that  our 
friends  with  the  firelocks  might  judge  expedient,  as  the 


John  marston  hall.  71 

ball,  which  was  probably  intended  for  his  horse,  had  de- 
viated a  little  from  its  course  and  gone  right  through  his 
head.  I  lay  quite  still  also,  for  in  all  the  many  conflicts 
of  one  kind  or  another  that  I  had  witnessed,  I  had  always 
remarked,  that  men,  in  working  themselves  up  to  such 
an  action  as  that  which  our  assailants  had  just  com- 
mitted, engender  in  their  own  bosoms  a  great  deal  more 
fury  than  is  at  all  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of 
their  exact  purpose.  This  superabundant  energy  breaks 
upon  the  first  object  opposed  to  it ;  but  it  soon  evaporates, 
and  those  who  would  stab  you  the  moment  after  they 
have  fired  the  gun,  or  rushed  to  the  charge,  will  be  a 
great  deal  humanized  within  five  minutes  after  the  strug- 
gle is  over. 

The  robbers  rushed  immediately  upon  the  groom  like 
hungry  wolves  ;  and  turning  him  over,  for  he  had  faHen 
upon  his  face,  took  a  hurried  glance  at  his  countenance. 
*'  Diable,"  cried  one  of  our  assailants,  as  they  did  so, 
"  we  have  made  a  mistake,  messieurs.  This  is  not  the 
courier,  after  all.  Peste  !  you  have  killed  him  too,  ser- 
geant.    Why  the  devil  did  you  fire  so  high  ]" 

"  You  have  done  the  same  for  the  other,  Hubert,"  re- 
plied the  one  he  addressed. 

"  I  hope  not,"  said  the  first ;  "  I  had  his  horse  fair 
enough  ;  but  let  us  see." 

On  the  assurance  of  these  charitable  expressions,  I 
ventured  a  low  groan,  which,  indeed,  had  long  wanted 
utterance  ;  for  the  pain  I  suffered  by  the  horse  lying  on 
my  leg  was  most  intense,  especially  as  he  more  than 
once  made  a  dying  effort  to  start  up,  and  then  fell  back 
again  upon  me. 

"  It  is  a  boy,"  said  the  leader  of  the  robbers,  as  they 
came  near.     "  Art  thou  dead  or  alive,  mongarqon  V 

"  Not  quite  dead,"  1  replied,  "  but  I  cannot  get  up,  for 
the  horse  is  upon  my  leg." 

"  Ah  !  so  I  see,  poor  boy,"  said  the  other.  "  Help  us 
here,  sergeant,  and  let  us  get  him  out."  This  was  easily 
accomplished  ;  and,  finding  that  I  could  not  stand  with 
very  great  ease  to  myself,  I  sat  down  on  the  bank,  rubbing 
my  leg  with  both  my  hands,  to  recall  it  to  some  sensa- 
tion, making  up  my  mind,  at  the  same  time,  to  undergo 
the  interrogatory  which  I  saw  was  preparing  for  me. 

The  leader  of  the  robbers  gazed  upon  me  for  a  mo- 
ment or  two  with  a  sort  of  cynical  grin,  and  then,  turn- 
ing to  his  companions,  he  remarked,  "  He  takes  it  coolly 


72  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

enough,  in  all  conscience.  Come,  tell  us  who  are  you, 
mon  beau  page  ?  and  whither  you  were  going  V 

"  I  am  the  page  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,"  replied  I, 
"  and  was  going  to  his  castle  of  the  Pres  Vallee." 

The  captain  struck  the  butt  of  his  firelock  against  the 
ground  with  a  movement  of  impatient  vexation.  '-  This 
is  unlucky  enough,"  he  said,  "  for  I  certainly  did  not 
want  to  quarrel  with  Monsieur  de  Villardin, — especially 
as  I  am  such  a  near  neighbour  of  his,"  he  added,  with  a 
smile  ;  "  and  pray  who  is  that  V  he  asked,  the  next  mo- 
ment, pointing  to  the  body  of  the  groom. 

"  That  is  one  "of  his  grooms,"  replied  I,  "  sent  to  guide 
me  on  the  way." 

"  Worse  and  worse,"  cried  the  captain ;  "  why  the 
devil,  sergeant,  did  you  fire  so  high  ?" 

"  It  is  no  great  matter,"  answered  I ;  "he  has  only 
shot  a  great  rogue,  who  would  have  lived  to  be  hanged, 
and  whom  I  had  nearly  shot  myself  on  the  high  road  not 
an  hour  ago." 

"  Pardi,  thou  art  a  droll  youth,"  rejoined  the  captain, 
"  and,  if  thy  tongue  do  not  belie  thee,  no  true  French- 
man." 

"  No,  but  what  is  better,"  replied  I,  "  a  true  English- 
man." 

"  The  better  I  deny,"  answered  the  captain  ;  "  but  I 
blame  not  your  bold  love  for  your  country.  However, 
I  must  see  more  of  you,  my  gay  lad,  before  I  determine 
on  letting  you  go  :  so  you  will  come  along  with  me. 
You,  sergeant,  bring  those  saddle-bags ;  there  may  be 
something  worth  having  within  ;  and  you,  Fran9ois  and 
Martin,  try  if  you  cannot  bury  the  man  down  in  the 
sand-pit  yonder  ;  and  heave  over  the  horse,  too,  if  you 
can  get  it  done  ;  but  bring  up  the  saddle  and  bridle,  for 
they  are  too  good  to  be  lost.  Keep  a  good  watch  for 
the  courier  the  while.  He  may  pass  by  yet,  though  it 
is  late.  Now,  come  along,  my  man,"  he  continued, 
turning  towards  me  again  ;  "  what,  cannot  you  walk  ? 
then,  good  faith,  you  must  limp  !" 

Of  course  I  did  as  I  was  directed,  and,  limping  on  as 
well  as  I  was  able,  followed  my  conductor  through  the 
wood  for  nearly  a  mile  ;  at  the  end  of  which  I  found 
myself  in  the  deepest  part  of  the  forest,  and  by  the  side 
of  a  rapid  stream.  A  little  farther  up  the  river,  I  per- 
ceived the  ruins  of  an  antique  mill  crowning  a  high  bank, 
with  the  remains  of  the  wheel,  long  broken  to  pieces,  now 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  73 

serving  alone  to  render  the  waterfall  by  which  it  was 
formerly  turned  more  picturesque  to  the  eye. 

Thither  I  was  led  by  the  robber,  and  on  entering  the 
old  building  found  that  it  was  more  dilapidated  in  ap- 
pearance than  in  reality ;  or,  at  least,  that  its  present 
tenants  had  contrived  to  render  it  very  habitable.  Three 
or  four  more  personages,  of  the  same  cast  as  those  I 
had  already  encountered,  were  found  within  the  mill ; 
but  still  it  was  apparent  that  the  man  who  had  conducted 
me  hitherto  was  captain  of  the  gang,  and  he  was  imme- 
diately assailed  by  a  thousand  questions  concerning 
some  courier,  for  whom  it  was  evident  these  gentlemen 
had  long  been  waiting. 

My  appearance  in  company  with  their  leader,  at  first, 
made  them  conclude  that  the  encounter  they  had  been 
expecting  had  taken  place  ;  but  they  were  soon  un- 
deceived, and  my  unhappy  saddle-bags  being  brought  in 
and  laid  down  in  the  midst,  I  had  the  mortification  of 
seeing  more  than  one  rapacious  hand  thrust  into  their 
bowels,  while  piece  by  piece  all  my  wardrobe  was  drawn 
forth,  and  at  length  my  little  store  of  golden  crowns 
appeared,  causing  a  reflected  sparkling  to  shine  in  the 
robbers'  eyes. 

"  A  better  day's  work  than  I  thought,"  cried  Hubert, 
their  leader  ;  "  now,  young  gentleman,  we  are  men  of 
honour  and  humanity,  and  therefore  we  shall  let  you 
keep  your  wardrobe — " 

"  Except  that  lace  collar,"  cried  one  of  his  comrades, 
"  which  I  claim  for  myself." — "  And  that  embroidered 
band,"  said  another,  "  for  which  I  have  a  fancy." — "  The 
pouch  for.  me !"  exclaimed  a  third ;  and  it  certainly 
seemed  that  my  apparel,  as  well  as  my  purse,  was  in  a 
fair  way  to  change  hands.  The  captain,  however,  in- 
terfered to  moderate  the  rapacity  of  his  gang,  and  it 
was  at  length  determined  that  not  only  my  dress,  but 
twenty  crowns,  which  happened  to  be  in  my  purse, 
should  be  left  me.  My  saddle,  bridle,  and  horse  equip- 
ments, together  with  my  silver-mounted  pistols,  became 
the  property  of  the  captain ;  and  the  only  remaining 
question  between  us  was  in  regard  to  the  packet  oif 
letters  and  orders  with  which  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had 
charged  me  for  his  farmers  and  agents  in  Brittany. 
These  were  wrapped  up  in  a  skin  of  leather  to  keep 
them  from  injury ;  but  as  soon  as  Master  Hubert  had 
satisfied  himself  that  nothing  but  written  papers  were 

Vol   I.— D 


74  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

to  be  found  within,  he  returned  the  bundle  to  me,  saying, 
that  he  would  not  interfere  with  the  discharge  of  my 
duty. 

I  was  in  hopes  that  this  was  but  a  prelude  to  my  being 
set  at  liberty  ;  but  the  captain  did  not  suffer  me  to  re- 
main long  in  suspense,  informing  me  candidly  enough 
that  I  must  stay  with  them  a  day  or  two  ;  for  that  they 
had  yet  a  coup-de-main  to  perform  which  they  trusted 
would  enrich  them  sufficiently  to  render  it  both  wise  and 
expedient  to  change  their  lodging.  "  As  soon  as  that  is 
accomplished,"  he  added,  "  we  will  despatch  you  upon 
your  journey,  but  in  the  mean  time  we  do  not  choose  to 
trust  to  that  quick  tongue  of  yours." 

As  there  was  no  help  for  it,  I  of  course  offered  no  re- 
sistance, very  well  understanding  that  the  coup-de-main 
to  which  the  captain  alluded  was  the  contemplated 
attack  upon  the  unfortunate  courier  from  Paris  to  St. 
Malo,  whose  appearance,  I  had  heard  at  the  last  inn,  was 
daily  expected.  He  did  not  show  himself,  however,  so 
soon  as  had  been  anticipated,  and  I  remained  several 
days  at  the  old  mill,  very  well  contented  with  the  treat- 
ment I  received  from  my  new  companions,  who  cer- 
tainly lived  upon  the  fat  of  the  land,  and  seemed  not  to 
suffer  any  remembrance  of  the  means  by  which  it  was 
acquired,  at  all  to  trouble  its  digestion.  1  acknowledge, 
too,  that  if  I  could  have  escaped  the  honour  and  reputa- 
tion of  the  thing,  I  would  very  willingly  have  shared  in 
some  of  their  adventures  ;  and  I  began  to  think  that  the 
profession  of  a  robber,  if  properly  conducted,  might 
afford  a  very  attractive  sort  of  life. 

Hubert,  the  captain  of  my  new  friends,  was  a  man  of 
a  very  intelligent  and  inquiring  mind ;  and  from  the  in- 
formation I  could  give  him  in  regard  to  the  state  of 
affairs  at  Paris,  took  great  pleasure  in  my  conversation. 
Nor  did  his  questions  alone  refer  to  his  own  country,  but 
one  night  he  so  besieged  me  with  inquiries  concerning 
England,  its  manners,  customs,  produce,  trade,  and  situa- 
tion, that  1  ended  by  asking  him  in  return,  if  he 
thought  of  taking  a  trip  to  exercise  his  abilities  in  that 
country. 

"  Not,  at  least,  in  the  manner  which  you  suppose," 
replied  he ;  and  then,  looking  over  his  shoulder  to  see 
that  all  his  companions  were  absent,  he  added,  "  you  do 
not  think,  my  boy,  that  my  state  of  life  has  never  been 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  75 

different  from  that  which  you  now  witness,  or  that  this 
trade  is  to  continue  always." 

"  No,"  repUed  I,  quietly,  "  for  it  usually  ends  very 
speedily— at  the  gallows." 

"  It  will  not  end  so  with  me,"  answered  the  captain, 
somewhat  fiercely  ;  but  the  next  moment  his  face  again 
took  on  a  smile,  and  he  added,  "  this  adventure,  with  what 
we  have  amassed  already,  will  make  my  fortune  suffi* 
cient  to  embark  in  a  different  speculation.  The  fellows 
who  are  with  me  may  carry  on  their  old  trade  if  they 
like,  but,  for  my  part,  I  have  had  enough  of  it," 

"  I  think  you  are  very  right,"  I  replied  ;  "  it  is  always 
as  well  to  leave  off  while  the  play  is  good." 

"  True,"  answered  he  ;  "  but  1  have  one  warning  to 
give  you,  my  good  youth.  If,  in  the  course  of  your  life 
hereafter,  you  should  ever  meet  me  in  a  different  station 
from  that  in  which  you  now  see  me— such  a  thing  may 
happen,  you  know — and  if  ever  you  do,  take  good  care 
that  your  memory  be  not  too  retentive,  for  if,  by  either 
word  or  look,  you  pretend  to  recognise  me,  I  shall  cer- 
tainly remember  my  old  profession  likewise,  and  take 
care  to  keep  you  silent  by  sending  a  ball  through  your 
head." 

Though  he  looked  very  fierce  as  he  spoke,  I  only 
laughed  at  his  menace,  asking  him  what  benefit  would 
accrue  to  me  by  betraying  him. 

"  I  do  not  know— I  do  not  know,"  he  rephed,  "  but 
you  are  warned;  and  so  beware." 

As  we  were  engaged  in  such  familiar  conversation,  I 
would  fain  have  asked  him  what  sort  of  connexion  could 
exist  between  him  and  Monsieur  de  Villardin ;  but,  re- 
flecting that  he  might  think  the  question  somewhat  im- 
pertinent, and  thence  argue  no  great  discretion  on  my 
part  for  the  future,  I  thought  it  most  prudent  to  be  silent, 
lest  he  should  take  means  to  put  it  out  of  my  power 
either  to  ask  more  questions  at  the  time,  or  make  any 
observations  at  an  after  period. 

Four  days  more  passed  without  the  appearance  of  the 
courier ;  and  the  robbers  beginning  to  be  apprehensive 
of  his  having  taken  another  road,  sent  out  to  obtain  in- 
telligence, as  their  stock  of  wine  and  provisions  gave 
signs  of  waxing  low.  Their  messengers  soon  returned, 
but  what  tidings  they  brought  I  know  not.  Most  proba- 
bly their  report  went  to  show  that  the  courier  had  ar- 
rived at  the  next  town,  and  would  be  accompanied 
D2 


76  THE    ADVENTURES     OF 

throug-h  the  forest  by  an  escort ;  for  almost  immediately 
after  their  return,  the  whole  band,  in  all  nine  men,  set 
off,  armed  up  to  the  teeth,  taking  care,  in  the  first  place, 
to  lock  me  into  a  room  which  had  no  chimney,  and  was 
ventilated  merely  by  a  narrow  window  through  which  I 
certainly  could  not  thrust  my  head. 

They  were  absent  about  an  hour ;  and  as  the  wind  set 
from  the  side  of  the  high  road,  in  less  than  twenty  min- 
utes after  their  departure  I  heard  two  smart  volleys  of 
musketry,  followed  by  a  few  dropping  shots. 

I  looked  out  eagerly  as  far  as  my  confined  casement 
would  allow  me,  and  at  length  beheld  Hubert  with  only 
four  of  his  companions  on  their  legs,  bearing  along  in 
their  arms  a  sixth  person,  who  seemed  to  be  very  dan- 
gerously wounded.  He  died,  however,  before  he  reached 
the  mill :  and  the  others,  laying  him  down  on  the  grass, 
came  onward  with  a  small  leathern  valise,  which,  by  the 
manner  in  which  they  carried  it,  I  judged  to  be  very 
weighty.  Their  arrival  was  followed  by  long  and  eager 
conversations,  and  a  great  deal  of  hurry  and  noise,  but 
to  what  all  this  bustle  referred  1  do  not  know,  as  they 
did  not  think  fit  to  let  me  out  of  durance  for  nearly  three 
hours.  During  that  time,  1  saw  from  the  window  nine 
of  the  horses  which  they  possessed  brought  out,  of 
which  six  were  instantly  saddled,  and  loaded  with  a  por- 
tion of  their  moveables. 

As  soon  as  this  was  complete,  to  my  surprise  I  beheld 
the  captain  come  out,  and,  after  shooting  upon  the  spot 
the  three  horses  that  remained  unsaddled,  mount,  to- 
gether with  his  four  men,  apparently  in  order  to  depart. 
My  first  thought  was  that  they  were  about  to  leave  me 
shut  up  where  I  was,  and  I  looked  round  for  the  means 
of  forcing  open  the  door  when  they  were  gone ;  but  the 
moment  after,  as  I  turned  towards  the  casement,  in 
order  to  observe  their  further  proceedings,  Hubert  called 
to  me  to  draw  back  from  the  window  ;  and,  as  1  obeyed, 
he  threw  in,  through  the  aperture,  the  key  of  the  room 
in  which  I  was  confined.  As  I  stooped  to  pick  it  up,  I 
heard  the  sound  of  their  horses'  feet  galloping  away ; 
and  before  I  had  opened  the  door,  and  arrived  at  the  bank 
of  the  stream,  the  last  horseman  of  the  five  was  out  of 
sight,  though,  with  greater  consideration  than  I  had  any 
reason  to  expect,  they  had  left  a  horse  saddled  at  the 
door  for  my  use. 


JOHN  MARSTON   HALL.  77 


CHAPTER  XII. 

When  my  worthy  acquaintance  Hubert  and  his  com- 
panions had  departed  in  the  manner  I  have  described  in 
the  last  chapter,  I  had  time  to  look  round  me,  and  con- 
sider both  my  own  situation  and  theirs  who  had  just 
left  me. 

From  every  thing  I  had  seen  I  could  not  doubt  that 
the  encounter  with  the  courier  and  his  escort  had  taken 
place,  and  that  the  robbers  had  proved  successful.  It 
was  evident,  however,  that  the  struggle  had  been  severe ; 
and  from  the  slaughter  of  three  of  their  horses,  as  well 
as  from  their  leaving  a  fourth  for  myself,  I  was  led  to 
conclude  that  four  of  the  gang  had  perished  in  the  affray. 
At  all  events,  no  doubt  could  exist  as  to  their  having  left 
their  late  dwelling  for  ever  ;  and  I  certainly  was  not  a 
little  obliged  to  them  for  the  care  which  they  had  taken 
to  provide  me  with  the  means  of  pursuing  my  journey. 

Nevertheless,  I  judged  that  it  might  be  expedient  to 
examine  their  habitation  and  its  vicinity  thoroughly  be- 
fore I  quitted  it ;  and,  on  doing  so,  I  found  that  in  the 
hurry  of  their  departure  they  had  left  behind  them  my 
own  saddle  and  accoutrements,  which  I  instantly  placed 
upon  the  horse  instead  of  those  with  which  they  had 
furnished  him,  not  knowing  how  far  the  fact  of  sitting 
in  a  thief's  saddle  might  compromise  me  with  those 
who  might  chance  to  be  in  pursuit  of  the  thief.  Having 
added  my  own  peculiar  saddle-bags  to  the  load  of  my 
charger,  I  took  such  a  general  survey  of  the  ground  and 
the  road  which  led  to  it  as  might  be  useful  afterward, 
and,  bidding  farewell  to  the  old  mill,  made  the  best  of 
my  way  back  to  the  high  road.  As  I  never  forgot  a 
path  that  I  had  once  travelled,  I  had  no  difficulty  in  re- 
tracing my  steps  to  the  exact  point  at  0hich  I  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  robbers,  and  gladly  found  myself 
once  more  on  the  road  towards  St.  Malo,  free  from  any 
apprehension  of  fresh  interruption. 

The  affray,  however,  with  the  courier  and  his  escoyt, 
must  have  taken  place  farther  up  the  road,  for  it  could 


78  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

not  have  failed  to  leave  bloody  traces  wherever  it  oc- 
curred ;  and  I  met  with  none  such  in  my  onward  jour- 
ney, which  I  now  pursued  in  the  same  direction  that  I 
had  been  following  when  I  was  interrupted.  To  tell  the 
truth,  I  was  not  at  all  sorry  to  have  no  direct  knowledge 
of  the  affair,  for  in  these  cases  concealment  is  almost 
as  bad  as  the  crime  itself,  and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  I  was  not  in  a  situation  to  put  my  head  willingly 
into  the  jaws  of  justice,  I  was,  therefore,  well  con- 
tented that  the  robbery  of  the  courier  and  the  murder 
of  his  escort  had  passed  totally  without  my  personal 
cognizance,  although  I  had  no  doubt  whatever  of  the 
facts.  To  put  myself  as  far,  too,  from  the  scene  as  pos- 
sible, I  galloped  on  pretty  quickly  till  I  came  to  a  carre- 
four,  where  the  road  I  was  pursuing  was  crossed  by  that 
from  St.  Aubin  to  Rennes.  It  was  at  the  distance  of 
at  least  ten  miles  from  the  scene  of  my  late  adventures  ; 
and  as  I  came  up  to  it  I  perceived,  seated  on  the  little 
mound  of  earth  at  the  foot  of  the  guide-post,  a  man  in 
the  dress  of  a  pedler,  with  his  box  of  wares  laid  down 
by  his  side.  At  first  he  was  turned  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  prevent  me  from  seeing  his  face ;  but  the  sound  of 
my  horse's  feet  causing  him  to  look  round,  he  displayed 
a  countenance  garnished  with  a  long,  black  beard,  an 
ornament  which  at  that  time  was  beginning  to  fall  into 
great  disrepute  throughout  all  civilized  Europe; — so 
much  so,  indeed,  that  no  such  thing  was  to  be  seen  in 
all  France,  except  perhaps  on  the  faces  of  Jews  and 
Capuchins,  and  a  few  which  had  descended  from  the 
reign  of  Henri  Quatre,  and  were,  I  suppose,  valued  by 
their  owners  on  the  score  of  their  antiquity. 

The  one  before  me  at  present  was  voluminous  and 
massy ;  but,  nevertheless,  it  did  not  serve  to  conceal 
from  me  the  identity  of  the  wearer  with  an  acquaint- 
ance whose  face  had  boasted  no  such  appendage  a  fort- 
night before.  I  affected  not  to  recognise  him,  however, 
and,  dismounting  from  my  horse — which  instantly  be- 
trayed its  ancient  habits  by  browsing  the  roadside — 1  sat 
down  on  the  same  mound  with  the  other  traveller,  and 
began  conversiil(|j  with  him  as  a  peddling  Jew.  He 
spoke  learnedly  and  lamentably  upon  the  evils  and  in- 
conveniences of  his  own  profession,  and  ended  by  mor- 
alizing so  sagely  upon  the  necessity  of  bearing  our  own 
portion  of  ills  with  constancy  and  calmness,  that  I  could 
not  help  exclaiming,  "  Ah  I  my  dear  philosopher,  you 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  79 

are  now  quite  complete ;  when  I  knew  you  on  the  Quai 
des  Orfevres,  you  wanted  nothing  of  Socrates  but  the 
beard." 

Jacques  Marlot  shook  his  head.  "  Can  your  eyes  see 
through  stone  walls,  little  serpent,"  he  cried ;  "  but  re- 
mark what  your  good  crowns  have  done  for  me  ;  pro- 
cured me  this  box  of  trumpery,  and  a  beard  that  is  worth 
half  the  money." 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  to  see  you  so  well  equipped,"  re- 
plied I  ;  "  although  your  imprudence,  joined  to  my  own, 
had  very  nearly  procured  me  a  journey  to  the  Bastile, 
and  has  actually  caused  me  to  be  stripped  of  a  thousand 
crowns."  I  then  related  to  the  ci-devant  printer  all  that 
had  occurred  to  me  since  we  last  met,  and  1  was  glad 
to  find  that  he  sincerely  felt  for  all  the  inconveniences  I 
had  suffered,  and  pressed  me  to  take  back  again  the  sum 
of  five  crowns,  which  was  all  that  he  had  remaining  of 
the  thirty  I  had  given  him.  He  declared  at  the  same 
time  tiiat  he  himself  could  do  very  well  without,  for  that 
the  contents  of  his  box,  assisted  by  a  fluent  tongue  and 
the  gullibility  of  the  peasantry,  had  proved  quite  suffi- 
cient, since  he  began  his  new  trade,  to  maintain  him  as 
well  as  he  could  desire,  though  to  say  the  truth  his  taste 
for  the  good  things  of  life  was  not  the  most  moderate. 

I  refused  to  accept  his  off'er,  of  course,  telling  him 
that  money  was  quite  unnecessary  to  me,  as  I  counted 
upon  reaching  the  castle  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin  in 
less  than  an  hour. 

"You  are  quite  mistaken,  my  son,"  he  replied, 
"  whether  you  mean  his  castle  of  the  Pres  Vallee,  or 
that  of  Dumont :  the  first  being  at  a  distance  of  at  least 
twenty,  and  the  latter  nearly  forty  miles  from  the  place 
where  we  now  stand." 

This  intelligence  surprised  me  a  good  deal,  as  I  found 
that  I  had  entirely  miscalculated  my  situation,  and  had 
mistaken  my  road.  Jacques  Marlot,  however,  who,  as 
well  as  his  uncle,  good  Jerome  Laborde,  was  a  native 
of  the  country,  and  acquainted  with  every  rood  of 
ground  round  about,  undertook  to  guide  me  on  my  way, 
and,  walking  my  horse  by  his  side  as  he  trudged  on,  we 
arrived  within  a  few  miles  of  Rennes  that  night.  The 
next  morning,  after  sleeping  in  one  of  the  neighbouring 
villages,  we  separated,  he  intending  to  proceed  to  St. 
Malo,  to  carry  on  his  traffic  with  any  of  the  seamen 
arriving  from  foreign  ports,  and  I  turning  my  steps  ia 


80  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

the  direction  of  the  Pres  Vallee,  to  which  he  pointed 
out  the  road. 

No  farther  accident  or  adventure  occurred  to  delay 
my  arrival,  and,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning-,  I 
reached  the  place  of  my  destination.  Here  I  was  re- 
ceived with  all  due  reverence  by  the  domestics  who 
tenanted  the  house,  and  delivered  all  the  letters  which 
I  bore  to  the  farmers  and  receivers  of  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin. 

Nothing  could  be  more  beautiful,  though  nothing 
could  be  more  solemn  than  the  aspect  of  the  castle,  and 
the  scene  that  surrounded  it.  It  was  a  fortified  house, 
of  no  great  military  strength,  situated  on  a  slight  emi- 
nence, rising  above  the  vast  rich  meadows  that  stretch 
for  many  miles  along  the  borders  of  the  Vilaine.  These 
meadows  were  broken — for  I  cannot  call  it  separated — 
by  large  belts  of  magnificent  forest  trees,  which  seemed 
to  owe  their  planting  to  the  hand  of  nature  rather  than 
to  man,  but  which,  nevertheless,  had  been  so  skilfully 
thinned,  that  the  boughs  of  one  never  interfered  with 
those  of  another ;  and  each  grew  in  liberty,  protecting, 
as  it  were,  under  its  branches,  its  own  particular  domain, 
without  infringing  upon  the  bounds  of  its  neighbour. 
Each  of  these  belts  varied  in  shape  and  distribution ; 
but  each  left  from  fifty  to  sixty  acres  of  pasture  ground 
clear  and  open  within  its  circuit,  with  the  river  generally 
forming  the  boundary  on  one  side,  and  the  trees  sweep- 
ing round  on  every  other,  so  that  each  meadow  seemed 
to  be  a  spot  of  rich  ground  which  had  been  cleared  and 
cultivated  ages  ago,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  forest,  the 
trees  of  which  were  still  standing  around.  In  fact,  a 
person  placed  in  the  centre  of  any  of  these  open  spaces 
saw  nothing  but  wood  beyond  the  meadow  that  sur- 
rounded him,  till,  walking  on  for  a  minute  or  two  under 
the  shade  of  gigantic  elms  and  oaks,  he  entered  another 
v/ide  pasture  field  like  that  he  had  just  left. 

The  effect  of  the  whole  would  have  been  gloomy,  had 
it  not  been  enlivened  by  the  frequent  turns  of  the  river, 
and  the  sight  of  cattle  and  sheep  feeding  in  the  various 
savannas,  under  the  charge  of  their  several  herds,  who 
most  frequently  were  found  cheering  their  occupation 
with  a  song.  There  was  something  calm,  and  simple,  and 
patriarchal  in  the  whole  scene,  which  struck  me  greatly 
as  I  passed  through  it ;  and  I  could  have  fancied  myself 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  81 

removed  by  thousands  of  years  and  thousands  of  miles 
from  the  countries  and  the  times  through  which  I  had 
lately  been  moving. 

The  castle  itself,  built  of  cold  gray  stone,  and  covered 
in  several  parts  with  ivy,  was  in  perfect  harmony  with 
every  thing  around  it ;  and  the  good  taste  of  Monsieur 
de  Villardin,  who  entered  fully  into  the  peculiar  char- 
acter of  the  scene,  had  left  all  the  furniture  and  decora- 
tions of  the  house — which  were  rich  and  good,  though 
in  antique  style  and  form — exactly  as  they  had  come 
into  his  possession. 

As  I  propose  to  write  down  in  this  book  the  changes 
of  my  disposition  and  character  as  I  advanced  through 
life,  as  well  as  the  various  turns  of  fortune  that  attended 
me  in  my  progress  through  the  world,  I  must  pause  for 
a  moment  to  speak  of  that  which  was  passing  within 
my  own  heart,  while  the  events  which  I  have  described 
were  working  out  my  general  fate. 

A  new  spirit  was  about  this  time  beginning  to  spring 
up  in  my  bosom,  and  a  taste  for  things  that  I  never  before 
enjoyed  was  every  day  developing  itself  more  and  more. 
Whether  it  was  that  Lord  Masterton  had  first  called  my 
attention  to  the  beauties  of  nature,  or  whether  it  was  that 
before  my  acquaintance  with  him  I  never  had  time  to 
think  of  them,  I  cannot  tell ;  but  certainly  I  began  to 
feel  a  delight  in  the  aspect  of  such  scenes  as  the  Pr6s 
Vallee,  which  formerly  I  had  never  experienced ;  and 
during  the  first  two  or  three  days  I  fancied  that  I  could 
remain  there  alone  for  ever. 

I  had  not  learned,  it  is  true,  to  examine  very  closely 
what  I  felt,  but  I  remember  at  the  time  thinking  it 
strange,  that  whereas  not  two  years  before  I  could 
have  passed  through  the  fairest  scenes  in  nature  with- 
out giving  them  any  particular  attention,  unless  they 
were  lighted  up  by  pike  and  gun,  I  now  stopped  to  gaze, 
without  well  knowing  why,  whenever  any  thing  that 
was  fair  or  sweet  met  my  eye.  I  might  not,  indeed, 
look  at  Nature's  face  with  the  feelings  of  a  painter  or 
of  a  poet;  but  I  certainly  did  begin  to  experience  great 
pleasure  in  the  contemplation  of  a  beautiful  prospect, 
and  would  turn  away  when  I  had  done  so,  pleased,  but 
thoughtful, — I  might  almost  say,  sad. 

1  felt  this  more  than  I  had  ever  felt  it  before  in  the 
solitude  of  my  new  dwelling,  and  many  an  hour  I  passed 
awav  in  various  sylvan  sports,  which,  while  they  gave 
D3 


■4- 


THE   ADVENTURES    OF 


me  active  employment,  till  led  me  into  the  fairest 
scenes  in  the  country  round. 

Nevertheless,  I  found  myself  bound  in  duty  to  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  to  make  him  acquainted  with  all  the 
incidents  of  my  journey;  and  though  at  that  time  I 
loved  not  sitting  at  a  desk,  even  as  long  as  was  required 
to  write  a  short  letter,  yet,  forcing  myself  to  the  task 
with  a  great  effort,  I  detailed  every  thing  that  occurred 
to  me,  and  despatched  the  epistle  to  St.  Aubin, — for  I 
would  not  trust  it  at  Rennes — to  go  by  the  next  ordinary 
courier  to  Paris.  Nothing  happened  to  disturb  my  tran- 
quillity for  the  ten  days  that  followed,  and  I  remained 
fishing  in  the  streams,  or  shooting  the  wolves  and  the 
boars  with  very  little  intermission.  On  one  occasion, 
indeed,  having  a  letter  to  deliver  from  the  duke  to  his 
intendant  at  his  other  estate  of  Dumont,  I  rode  over 
thither,  and  found  a  very  different  scene  from  that 
presented  by  the  Pres  Vallee — rocks  and  mountains, 
and  streams  and  waterfalls,  with  a  modern  house, 
modern  bridges,  and  modern  furniture.  In  the  mood 
which  then  possessed  me,  however,  the  Pres  Vallee 
was  more  to  my  taste,  and  I  returned  to  its  calm  shades 
as  soon  as  possible,  leaving  the  letter  to  be  delivered  to 
the  intendant,  who  was  absent  at  the  time  of  my  arrival. 

At  the  end  of  ten  days  a  courier  reached  the  Pres 
Vallee  from  Paris,  bringing  a  large  packet  addressed  to 
myself,  on  opening  which  I  found  a  short  letter  from  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin,  directing  me  to  wait  for  a  fortnight 
longer  in  Brittany  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  up  the 
rents  of  several  of  his  farms,  and  referring  to  another 
more  voluminous  paper  contained  in  the  same  packet, 
which,  as  I  soon  perceived,  expressed  the  will  and 
pleasure  of  the  king  that  no  proceedings  should  take 
place  against  John  Marston  Hall  for  the  rescue  of  a 
prisoner  from  the  hands  of  the  criminal  lieutenant,  and 
authorized  him  to  plead  the  royal  grace  and  pardon  in 
all  matters  referring  thereto. 

This,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  afforded  a  great  relief 
to  my  mind,  for  it  was  by  no  means  pleasant  to  go  about 
the  world  with  the  fear  of  the  Bastile  hanging  about  the 
neck  of  one's  imagination.  Although  I  had  now  no 
apprehensions  from  the  pursuit  of  justice,  I  soon  began 
to  feel  the  solitude  of  the  Pres  Vallee  less  delightful 
than  it  had  seemed  at  first ;  and  though,  had  there  been 
any  one  to  share  my  sports,  or  to  occupy  my  time,  I 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  83 

should  still  have  enjoyed  it  much,  yet  the  hours  gradually 
became  somewhat  tiresome,  shut  up  in  an  old  castle, 
with  nothing  but  solemn  woods  arounid  one,  and  a 
library  of  old  books  for  my  sole  companions.  I  now, 
however,  found  the  Latin  with  which  Lord  Masterton 
had  furnished  me  turn  to  some  account;  and  after 
having  read  Ovid  two  or  three  times  through,  I  dipped 
into  Lucan,  and  pored  over  several  other  books,  in 
order  to  while  away  the  evenings. 

At  length,  with  infinite  joy,  I  heard  that  the  rents 
were  all  paid  into  the  hands  of  the  intendant,  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  sum,  which  was  expected  the  next 
day  ;  and  I  directed  the  courier,  who  had  remained  for 
the  purpose  of  returning  with  me  to  Paris,  to  prepare 
for  our  journey  on  the  third  da}^  Scarcely  had  I  given 
the  order,  however,  when  a  letter  reached  me,  brought 
by  the  king's  ordinary  to  Rennes,  It  was  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  and  contained  but  a 
few  words,  which  were  evidently  written  under  feelings 
of  agitation  or  haste.  In  this  billet,  for  letter  I  can 
scarcely  call  it,  he  directed  me  to  forbear  my  journey, 
as  he  himself  and  his  whole  household  would  be  at  the 
Pres  Vallee  in  six  days  from  the  date  of  his  letter ;  and 
he  then  went  on  to  bid  me  communicate  tliis  fact  to  the 
various  domestics  in  the  chateau,  in  order  that  it  might 
be  prepared,  as  usual,  for  his  reception. 

This  change  of  destination  was  not  unpleasant  to  me, 
for  all  I  now  wanted  was  society  and  occupation ;  and, 
prevented  as  I  had  been,  by  my  youth  and  my  English 
birth,  from  entering  into  the  debaucheries  or  factions  of 
Paris,  its  routine  had  become  wearisome  to  me  even 
before  I  quitted  it.  All  was  now  bustle  in  the  chateau. 
As  the  autumn  was  coming  on,  fires  were  lighted  in 
every  apartment,  and  busy  hands  were  engaged  in  re- 
moving the  dust  which,  during  the  last  two  years,  had 
accumulated  in  the  untenanted  rooms.  My  solitary 
residence  of  a  month  in  the  midst  of  such  scenes  as 
those  around  me  had,  I  believe,  done  more  to  call  forth 
whatever  portion  of  imagination  entered  into  the  com- 
position of  John  Marston  Hall,  than  all  the  events  of 
his  former  life.  Lord  Masterton,  as  I  have  before  said, 
had  done  a  good  deal,  it  is  true  ;  but  even  when  I  quitted 
him,  my  great  thirst  was  for  action,  not  for  thought. 
Now  a  new  ingredient  seemed  mingling  with  my  na- 
ture :  I  began  to  view  the  things  around  me  in  a  differ- 


84  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

ent  light ;  and  though  1  would  fain  have  had  some  one 
to  converse  with,  yet  I  could  dream  even  alone.  Thus, 
during  the  next  two  or  three  days,  when  the  evening 
had  closed  in,  and  I  was  left  in  the  old  library  by  myself, 
after  reading  for  an  hour  or  two,  1  would  rise,  and, 
without  a  candle,  wander  through  all  the  dim  vast  halls 
and  gloomy  chambers  of  the  Pres  Vallee,  watching  the 
flickering  light  of  the  fires,  kindled  in  each  chamber  to 
scare  away  the  damp,  as  the  flame  flashed  faintly  from 
time  to  time  upon  the  rich  arras  and  dark  hangings,  and 
dreaming  all  the  time  of  heaven  knows  what  compound 
of  scenes  and  adventures  which  those  chambers  might 
have  witnessed  in  times  past. 

My  conduct  in  these  respects,  indeed,  was  somewhat 
strangely  misconstrued  by  an  old  female  domestic  who 
always  remained  in  the  house ;  but  as  the  misconstruc- 
tion was  all  to  my  advantage,  I  had  no  reason  to  com- 
plain. By  a  little  civility  and  kindness,  I  had  established 
with  her  the  character  of  a  complete  phcenix  of  pages  ; 
and  I  afterward  found  that  old  Marguerite  assured  Ma- 
dame de  Villardin,  on  her  arrival,  that  I  had  every  night 
made  a  complete  tour  of  the  chateau  to  see  that  the  fires 
were  burning,  and  the  rooms  properly  aired.  At  length, 
after  waiting  two  days  in  hourly  expectation  of  the 
coming  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  an  avant-courier 
arrived,  and  in  about  two  hours  more  the  cavalcade  ap- 
peared in  the  avenue.  In  Paris,  where  one  never  saw 
the  whole  household  of  the  duke  collected,  one  was  not 
aware  of  the  numbers  it  contained ;  but  now,  when  two 
carriages,  each  containing  eight  people,  and  drawn  by 
six  horses,  were  followed  up  to  the  gates  by  twenty- four 
horsemen,  one  began  to  have  a  much  more  respectful 
idea  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  establishment  than  one 
had  formerly  entertained.  The  duke  himself  was  on 
horseback ;  and  springing  to  the  ground  the  first,  he  gave 
his  hand  to  the  duchess,  who  appeared  to  me  pale  and 
languid.  Both  spoke  kindly  to  me  :  but  I  could  clearly 
perceive  that  something  was  wrong  in  the  domestic 
comfort  of  the  family ;  and  I  soon  found  that  the  defects 
of  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  temper  and  character  had  not 
been  greatly  improved  since  I  left  Paris.  Old  Jerome 
Laborde  was  my  principal  oracle  in  these  matters,  and 
from  him  I  learned,  that  for  some  weeks  the  duchess 
had  been  very  gay  in  the  capital ;  had  been  out  continu- 
ally, except  when  she  received  company  at  home,  and 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  86 

had  been  universally  admired  and  praised.  All  this  had 
been  less  agreeable  to  Monsieur  de  Villardin  than  it 
might  have  been  to  a  man  of  a  more  happy  disposition ; 
and  after  becoming  irritable  and  morose  to  a  considera- 
ble degree,  he  had  suddenly  announced  his  determination 
of  retiring  to  Brittany. 

Madame  de  Villardin,  unconscious  of  offence  herself, 
and,  as  most  women  do,  mistaking  her  husband's  char- 
acter, endeavoured  to  argue  him  out  of  his  resolution. 
A  discussion  ensued,  the  particulars  of  which  did  not 
transpire,  even  to  the  all-inquiring  ears  of  soubrettes 
and  valets-de-chambre ;  but  the  whole  household  per- 
ceived that  it  must  have  been  bitter  and  severe,  for 
when  it  was  over,  Madame  de  Villardin  was  found  faint- 
ing, and  bathed  in  tears.  The  arrangements  for  depart- 
ure "were  hurried  from  that  moment ;  and  before  three 
days  were  over,  the  whole  party  were  on  their  way  to 
the  Pres  Vallee. 

As  the  old  man  told  me  this  story  spontaneously,  I 
thought  I  might,  at  least,  venture  to  ask  whether  he  be- 
lieved the  duke  to  have  any  real  cause  for  the  jealousy 
that  he  evidently  felt. 

"  None  on  earth,"  replied  the  major-domo.  "  My  lady 
is  gay  and  lively,  and  loves  well  enough  to  be  admired  : 
but  she  loves  my  lord  dearly,  we  are  all  convinced ;  and 
depend  upon  it,  no  woman  ever  went  astray  yet  without 
the  servants  finding  it  out." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

For  a  time,  the  change  produced  on  the  domestic 
affairs  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  by  his  retirement  from 
Paris,  was  a  great  improvement.  The  duke  seemed  to 
feel  himself  more  at  ease  in  the  country  than  the  de- 
scription of  good  Jerome  Laborde  permitted  me  to 
believe  he  had  been  in  the  town  ;  and  Madame  de  Vil- 
lardin, like  a  wise  woman,  making  up  her  mind  to  what 
she  could  not  avoid,  seemed  determined  to  dedicate  her- 
self wholly  to  rural  occupations,  and  to  the  wife's  first 
task  of  making  his  home  comfortable  and  tranquil  to 
her  husband.     Matters  thus  soon  assumed  a  new  aspect. 


86  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

Monsieur  de  Villardin,  who  was  naturally  of  a  warm 
and  affectionate  disposition,  gave  way  fully  to  all  the 
better  feelings  of  his  heart ;  and  I  have  never  seen  a 
more  happy  household  than  that  which,  for  the  month 
that  followed,  was  presented  by  the  chateau  of  the  Pres 
Vallee,  although  Madame  de  Villardin  herself  had  be- 
come far  more  grave  and  matronly  than  she  had  ap- 
peared in  Paris.  The  duke,  with  the  natural  eagerness 
and  activity  of  his  disposition,  was,  of  course,  obliged 
to  find  himself  constant  employment ;  but  to  a  man  so 
fond  of  field  sports  as  he  was,  the  country  around  us 
presented  an  unfailing  source  of  amusement.  Now  it 
was  a  fishing  party  ;  now  it  was  an  expedition  against 
the  stags,  the  boars,  or  the  wolves ;  now  it  was  a  walk 
to  bring  home  a  chevreuil,  which  furnished  us  with  the 
day's  entertainment ;  and,  on  most  of  these  occasions,  I 
was  glad  to  find  that  Madame  de  Villardin,  at  her  own 
request,  accompanied  her  husband. 

For  my  part,  the  whole  was  joy  and  satisfaction  to 
me  ;  for  it  was  evident  that  all  those  whose  affections  I 
coveted  were  daily  growing  more  fond  of  me  :  the  duke 
was  never  tired  of  praising  my  method  of  conducting 
their  sports  ;  Madame  de  Villardin  seemed  to  take  a  de- 
light in  seeing  me  play  with  her  little  girl ;  the  servants, 
who  were  sure  to  meet  all  good  offices  and  no  evil  ones 
from  my  hands,  found  a  great  difference  between  myself 
and  such  pages  as  they  were  accustomed  to  encounter, 
with  whom  the  ordinary  domestics  of  a  house  are  gener- 
ally in  a  state  of  open  warfare.  The  two  younger 
pages  themselves  were  my  pets  and  my  proteges ;  and 
the  only  one  who  hated  me,  with  a  tolerable  degree  of 
malevolence,  was  my  first  enemy,  Master  Gaspard  de 
Belleville,  whose  fear  was  the  only  restraint  upon  his 
animosity.  Certain  it  is,  that  his  dislike  was  not  par- 
ticularly diminished  during  our  stay  at  the  Pres  Vallee. 
The  increasing  regard  and  confidence  of  our  mutual 
lord  towards  myself,  and  the  frequent  rebukes  and  mor- 
tifications that  his  awkwardness  and  inactivity  in  all  our 
field  sports  called  upon  him,  as  well  as  the  total  dis- 
regard with  which  I  treated  him,  all  served  to  increase 
and  cultivate  his  original  distaste  towards  me.  It  is 
true,  he  never  dared  to  show  his  hatred  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  give  me  an  excuse  for  resenting  it ;  but  it  peeped 
out  in  a  thousand  little  words  and  actions,  among  which, 
one  of  the  pettiest,  but  one  which  best  showed  his 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  87 

feelings,  was  a  habit  which  he  had  of  never  caUing  me 
by  my  name  when  speaking  of  me  to  others,  but  always 
designating  me  I'Anglais, — ^I'Etranger, — the  Englishman, 
the  Foreigner.  For  all  this  I  was  very  easily  consoled, 
and  indeed  scarcely  noticed  it  at  all.  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin,  however,  himself  took  notice  of  the  latter  cir- 
cumstance I  have  mentioned,  and  one  day  sharply  re- 
proved him  for  not  speaking  of  me  by  my  name.  "  Call 
him,  sir,"  he  said,  "  by  his  proper  appellation, — Monsieur 
Hall ;  and  remember  that  he  is  better  born,  as  well  as 
better  educated,  than  yourself." 

Of  another,  and  far  more  serious  trait  of  his  ill  will, 
I  received,  about  this  time,  proofs  quite  sufficient  to 
satisfy  myself,  though  perhaps  they  were  not  quite 
irrefragable. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  family  at  the  Pres 
Vallee,  the  duke  took  me  out  with  him  alone  ;  and  caus- 
ing me  to  walk  by  his  side,  made  me  give  him  a  far 
more  full  and  detailed  account  of  all  my  adventures  on 
the  road  than  I  had  been  able  to  do  by  letter.  When  I 
had  done,  he  asked  me  if  I  had  been  imprudent  enough, 
before  quitting  Paris,  to  acknowledge  to  any  one  but 
myself  the  share  I  had  had  in  the  liberation  of  Jacques 
Marlot. 

"  To  no  one,  I  assure  you,  my  lord,"  I  rephed ;  "  even 
to  his  own  uncle,  Jerome  Laborde,  I  never  mentioned 
the  facts ;  merely  telling  him — to  quiet  the  old  man's 
mind — that  I  had  heard  his  nephew  had  been  liberated, 
without  adding  one  word  which  could  induce  him  to 
believe  that  I  had  any  share  in  the  transaction." 

"  It  is  very  extraordinary,  indeed,"  said  the  duke,  in 
reply ;  "  but  it  is  an  undoubted  fact,  that  between  the 
time  of  your  aiding  to  rescue  the  prisoner  and  my  visit 
to  the  Hotel  de  Bouillon  that  night,  the  police  had  ob- 
tained the  most  perfect  account  of  your  person,  appear- 
ance, dress,  and  situation.  Can  you  remember,"  he 
added,  "  whether  there  was  any  one  present  when  you 
related  the  circumstances  to  me  V 

"  No  one,  my  lord,"  I  replied,  "  as  you  may  remem- 
ber, but  Gaspard  de  Belleville." 

Monsieur  de  Villardin  shook  his  head.  "  Indeed  !"  he 
said ;  "  indeed  !  Yet  I  cannot  believe  the  boy  would 
be  either  so  base  or  so  foolish  as  to  betray  such  a  con- 
versation. However,"  he  added,  changing  the  subject 
abruptly,  "of  course,  as  you  have  suffered  robbery 


88  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

while  engaged  in  my  service,  I  shall  not  allow  you  to 
lose  by  any  thing  of  the  kind.  The  sum  which  was 
taken  from  you  shall  be  repaid  to  you  as  soon  as  we 
return  home  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  do  not  let  any  sus- 
picion of  Gaspard  appear  in  your  behaviour  towards 
him." 

"  There  exists  so  very  little  communication  between 
us,  my  lord,"  I  replied,  "  on  any  subject,  that  there  is 
no  fear  of  my  betraying  any  such  feeling  ;  and  certainly, 
more  than  ever,  I  shall  take  care  to  conceal  it,  since  you 
desire  me  to  do  so." 

The  same  evening,  the  duke  gave  me  an  order  upon 
his  intendant  for  the  full  sum  which  I  had  lost ;  and, 
as  a  still  greater  proof  of  his  regard,  ordered  an  apart- 
ment in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  his  own,  consisting 
of  two  very  comfortable  chambers,  to  be  prepared  for 
my  sole  use. 

This  state  of  things  had  continued  about  a  month, 
when  a  rumour  became  prevalent  in  our  little  world  that 
the  duchess  was  again  pregnant ;  and,  about  the  same 
time,  after  a  deep  and  fearful  fit  of  gloom,  of  which  no 
one  understood  the  cause.  Monsieur  de  Villardin  shut 
himself  up  almost  entirely  in  his  library  and  his  bed- 
chamber, and  was  hardly  seen  by  anybody  for  several 
days,  Madame  de  Villardin,  too,  was  observed  several 
times  in  tears,  and  every  thing  appeared  once  more  to 
be  going  wrong  in  the  family.  At  the  end  of  a  few 
days,  however,  a  change  was  wrought  in  the  duke  him- 
self, apparently  by  the  exhortations  of  his  confessor, 
who  was  frequently  with  him  for  several  hours  at  a 
time.  Of  this  excellent  man  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
speak  more  hereafter  ;  and  here  it  is  only  necessary  to 
say,  that  the  influence  he  possessed  over  the  mind  of 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  was  at  all  times  extraordinary. 
His  usual  residence  was  at  Rennes,  and  consequently 
he  had  not  seen  the  duke  for  more  than  two  years  ;  but 
his  authority  did  not  seem  to  have  been  at  ail  shaken, 
nor  the  bold  tone  of  his  reproof  at  all  softened  by  ab- 
sence ;  for  I  remember  once,  on  passing  the  library 
door,  which  was  ajar,  having  unwillingly  overheard  him 
myself  tax  his  penitent  with  absolute  madness.  How- 
ever that  might  be,  the  duke  very  soon  resumed  his 
usual  habits  ;  and  it  appeared  to  me  that  he  endeav- 
oured, by  increased  kindness,  to  efface  from  the  mind 
of  the  duchess  whatever  effect  any  harshness  he  had 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  89 

shown  her  might  have  produced.  Most  gladly  did  she 
seem  to  catch  at  every  renewed  proof  of  his  aifection; 
and  the  happiness  of  the  family  was  again  apparently 
restored  for  the  time,  when  one  morning,  as^  -we  were 
about  to  set  out  to  hunt  in  the  neighbourhood,  the 
young  Count  de  Mesnil,  who  had  rescued  the  duke  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  butchers  in  Paris,  and  who  had  since 
been  a  frequent  visiter  at  his  house,  rode  up  to  the  gates, 
and  was  received  with  a  joyous  welcome  by  both  the 
duke  and  his  lady.  He,  like  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  had 
come  into  Brittany  to  spend  some  time  on  his  estates  ; 
and  as  his  dwelling  was  within  seven  miles  of  the  Pres 
Vallee,  his  visits  soon  became  very  nearly  as  frequent 
as  they  had  been  in  Paris. 

At  first  the  natural  bent  of  Madame  de  Villardin's  dis- 
position led  her  into  some  of  those  little  acts  of  gayety 
and  display  from  which  a  habitual  love  of  admiration 
rendered  it  almost  impossible  for  her  to  refrain;  but 
very  soon,  and  somewhat  suddenly,  her  manner  towards 
the  young  count  assumed  an  air  of  great  coldness  ;  and 
I  easily  divined  the  cause  both  of  this  change  and  of  the 
great  affection  which  Monsieur  de  Mesnil  appeared  to 
feel  for  the  lord  and  family  of  the  Pres  Vallee. 

Strange  to  say,  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  awake  to  the 
slightest  word  in  other  instances,  and  suspicious  where 
there  was  no  cause,  was  in  the  present  case  totally 
Wind,  long  after  Madame  de  Villardin  herself  had  be- 
come aware  of  the  designs  of  their  visiter.  He  had 
known  the  Count  de  Mesnil  as  a  mere  boy,  and  he  still 
looked  upon  him  as  such.  This  might  be  one  cause  of 
his  blindness ;  but,  in  truth,  I  beheve,  there  is  also  a 
sort  of  fatality  in  such  cases,  or  rather  a  madness,  which, 
to  a  suspicious  mind,  makes  truth  look  like  falsehood, 
and  falsehood  appear  to  be  truth.  I  felt  very  much  for 
Madame  de  Villardin,  whose  situation  appeared  to  be 
painful  in  the  extreme  ;  and  whose  conduct  towards  the 
Count  de  Mesnil,  as  far,  at  least,  as  I  could  see,  was 
now  faultless ;  but,  of  course,  I  dared  not  say  a  word 
to  open  the  eyes  of  my  lord  upon  such  a  subject,  with- 
out having  some  decided  fact  to  warrant  my  interfer- 
ence. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  nearly  two  months  more  passed 
over  our  heads,  without  any  circumstance  occurring  to 
change  my  own  situation  or  that  of  the  other  parties  ; 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  continuing  extremely  partial  to 


99  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

the  society  of  his  young  neighbour,  and  the  duchess,  on 
the  contrary,  treating  him  with  a  degree  of  cold  haugh- 
tiness which  approached  towards  rudeness.  At  length, 
one  morning,  shortly  after  the  Count  de  Mesnil,  who 
had  been  upon  a  visit  at  the  Pres  Vallee,  had  left  the 
house  in  order,  as  it  seemed,  to  return  home,  Monsieur 
de  Villardin  set  out  on  horseback,  intending  to  proceed 
to  Rennes,  accompanied  by  myself,  Gaspard  de  Belle- 
ville, and  one  or  two  grooms.  When  we  were  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  chateau,  however,  he  suddenly 
remembered  that  a  packet,  referring  to  the  business 
which  called  him  to  the  city,  had  been  left  on  the  table 
of  his  library :  and,  as  it  was  of  some  importance,  he 
directed  me  to  ride  back  and  bring  it  to  him  at  Rennes. 
I  accordingly  lost  no  time  in  returning  to  the  Pres 
Vallee  ;  but  was  somewhat  surprised,  when  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  house,  to  remark  a  horse,  which  1  very 
well  recognised  as  that  of  the  Count  de  Mesnil,  tied  to 
one  of  the  old  trees  which  I  have  before  described.  I 
had  taken  a  short  cut  across  the  meadows,  which  devia- 
tion from  the  high  road  had  led  me  through  a  part  of  the 
grounds  that,  lying  at  a  distance  from  any  of  the  ordi- 
nary paths,  was  generally  very  lonely  :  but,  in  truth, 
when  I  beheld  this  sight,  I  wished  that  I  had  pursued 
any  other  way;  for  I  apprehended,  and  not  without 
cause,  that  I  might  soon  be  placed  in  one  of  the  most 
painful  situations  that  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  I  had, 
however,  but  one  task  to  perform — to  do  the  errand  on 
which  I  was  sent ;  but,  in  order  to  see  as  little  as  possible, 
I  rode  to  the  back  of  the  chateau,  and,  entering  from  the 
offices,  went  up  by  one  of  the  back  staircases  into  the 
library.  That  room,  however,  opened  again  into  the 
small  saloon,  and  the  door  by  which  I  entered  fronted 
the  other,  which  was  unclosed,  and  exactly  opposite  to 
which,  on  the  wall  of  the  saloon,  was  hung  a  large  Ve- 
nitian  mirror  in  a  silver  frame.  The  moment  I  entered 
I  heard  voices,  and  my  eye  involuntarily  rested  on  the 
mirror,  in  which  I  beheld  the  reflection  of  two  figures  ; 
that  of  the  duchess,  with  her  back  to  the  glass,  so  that  I 
could  not  see  the  expression  of  her  countenance,  and 
that  of  Monsieur  de  Mesnil,  kneeling  at  her  feet  and 
holding  her  hand  with  some  degree  of  force  in  his  own, 
while  he  pressed  his  lips  upon  it. 

Although,  as  1  have  said,  I  could  not  see  the  face  of 
the  duchess,  her  words,  and  the  tone  in  which  they 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  91 

were  pronounced,  were  quite  sufficient  to  show  me  that 
she  was  repelling  indignantly  the  grossest  insult  that 
woman  can  receive  from  man. 

"  If  you  do  not  instantly  quit  me,  sir,"  she  exclaimed, 
in  a  load  and  vehement  voice,  "  I  will  call  those  who 
can  and  will  protect  me  against  your  daring  insolence. 
Rise,  sir,  rise  :  I  do  not  know  which  is  the  most  to  be 
despised,  your  affectation  of  love  for  a  woman  you  in- 
sult, or  your  hypocrisy  in  pretending  friendship  for  the 
man  you  endeavour  to  wrong." 

The  count  was  not  without  all  those  ordinary  argu- 
ments on  the  subject  by  which  men  furnish  women,  who 
are  already  inclined  to  degrade  themselves,  with  ex- 
cuses for  so  doing.  I  did  not  allow  him  time,  however, 
to  make  much  use  of  his  oratory ;  but,  by  oversetting 
one  of  the  tables  in  the  library,  gave  him  intimation 
that  some  one  was  near.  Immediate  and  not  very  dig- 
nified flight  was  his  resource,  and  taking  his  way  through 
another  door,  he  left  the  duchess  without  any  great 
ceremony  in  bidding  her  adieu.  As  I  saw  her  approach- 
ing the  library,  I  also  made  my  escape  by  the  back 
staircase  as  rapidly  as  if  I  had  been  upon  some  furtive 
expedition.  The  truth  is,  that  my  mind,  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life,  I  beheve,  was  not  made  up  how  to  act ; 
and  I  did  not  wish  to  encounter  Madame  de  Villardin 
until  1  had  formed  my  determination.  1  had  also  obtained 
the  packet  for  which  1  was  sent,  so  that  I  had  no  cause 
to  stay  longer ;  and,  mounting  again  in  the  back-court,  I 
rode  forward  towards  Rennes. 

Although  I  knew  that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  waited 
for  the  papers,  my  pace  was  slow,  I  confess  ;  for  I  was 
embarrassed  with  meditations,  which  were  not  easily 
brought  to  an  end.  Had  I  been  sure  that  the  duchess 
would  tell  her  own  story  to  her  husband,  I  might  have 
held  my  peace,  and  suffered  the  matter  to  take  its  course ; 
but  I  clearly  saw  that  the  causeless  jealousy  of  Monsieur 
de  Villardin  himself  had  so  greatly  alarmed  his  wife,  that 
it  was  very  doubtful  whether  she  would  open  his  eyes 
to  the  perfidy  of  his  friend,  not  knowing  what  strange 
and  violent  effect  the  communication  might  produce. 
At  the  same  time  I  remembered  the  promise  I  had 
made,  never  to  see  him  wronged  without  making  him 
aware  of  the  fact ;  but  though  this  promise  was  decided, 
yet  I  felt  afraid  to  perform  it,  and  was  long  in  consider- 
ing how  I  might  do  so  in  such  a  manner  as  to  fulfil  my 


02  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

duty,  and  yet  to  guard  against  the  slightest  suspicion 
falling  upon  his  innocent  wife.  It  may  be  thought,  in- 
deed, that  for  this  purpose,  1  had  nothing  to  do  but  to 
tell  all  that  I  had  seen,  precisely  as  I  had  seen  it ;  but 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  was  not  famous  for  hearing  any 
one  to  an  end,  and  I  therefore  knew  that  the  effect  of  the 
first  part  of  my  tale  would,  probably,  be  to  prevent  his 
attending  to  one  word  of  its  conclusion.  Eventually, 
however,  I  both  made  up  my  mind  to  tell  him  what  I  had 
witnessed,  and  fixed  upon  the  means  of  making  him  hear 
me  out ;  and  as  soon  as  this  was  settled,  I  put  my  horse 
into  a  gallop,  and  never  stopped  till  I  was  in  Rennes. 

The  business  which  had  taken  him  to  the  provincial 
capital  detained  him  for  several  hours, but  was  ultimately 
settled  to  his  satisfaction,  and  he  returned  homeward 
in  a  happier  mood  than  any  I  had  lately  witnessed.  He 
was  more  calm  and  placid  than  he  had  been  for  months, 
and  met  his  wife  with  that  confiding  and  aff"ectionate  air, 
which  I  hoped  might  induce  her  to  open  her  whole 
heart  to  her  husband  at  once.  Had  she  done  so,  what 
misery  she  would  have  saved  him  !  but  she  was  too 
much  afraid  of  him  to  act  in  the  only  manner  that  could 
have  rebuked  suspicion  for  ever.  As  I  was  almost  con- 
stantly, on  some  excuse  or  another,  in  the  saloon  or 
library,  I  had  sufiicient  opportunity  of  watching  my 
lord's  countenance,  and  I  scanned  it  eagerly  during  the 
evening  to  see  whether  the  tale  had  been  told.  He 
was  so  cheerful  and  so  gay,  that  his  face,  like  a  summer 
sky^  would,  in  a  moment,  have  betrayed  the  slightest 
cloud  that  came  over  him  ;  but  the  day  closed  without 
any  appearing,  and  it  was  clear  that  the  duchess,  most 
weakly,  had  determined  to  conceal  the  insult  off'ered  to 
her  by  the  Count  de  Mesnil  from  her  husband. 

The  task  then  lay  with  me ;  and  when  Madame  de 
Villardin  had  retired  for  the  night,  I  entreated  the  duke 
to  grant  me  a  few  minutes'  audience.  He  first  heard 
my  request  with  a  smile,  and  asked  whether  to-morrow 
would  not  do  as  well ;  but  the  next  moment  his  demon 
woke  suddenly  up,  a  cloud  came  over  his  brow,  and  I 
could  see  that  suspicion  and  distrust  were  once  more 
alive.  Starting  up,  he  took  one  of  the  tapers,  and 
beckoning  me  into  the  library,  which  was  more  retired 
and  secure  than  the  saloon,  he  shut  the  door,  and  cast- 
ing himself  into  an  arm-chair,  exclaimed,  almost  fiercely, 
^*  Now,  boy  !  now !    What  is  it  you  have  to  say  ?" 


JOHN  MARSTON    HALL.  93 

I  saw  that  he  was  dreadfully  agitated,  even  by  his 
own  imaginations,  for  as  yet  I  had  not  said  one  word  to 
cause  the  slightest  emotion  :  but  still,  as  I  have  said, 
he  was  moved  in  an  extraordinary  degree  ;  and  I  knew, 
that  unless  I  took  the  means  on  which  I  had  before  re- 
solved to  gain  an  uninterrupted  hearing,  my  story  would 
be  cut  short  in  the  midst.  Advancing,  therefore,  as  near 
as  I  well  could,  I  knelt  down  before  him,  and  said,  "  My 
lord,  I  have  something  to  tell  you  ;  but  you  are  so  quick, 
that  I  am  afraid  of  your  not  hearing  it  all.  If  you  will 
give  me  your  word  of  honour  that  you  will  hear  every 
word  I  have  to  say  without  interrupting  nie,  1  will  go 
on ;  but  if  you  will  not,  I  will  hold  my  tongue,  and,  on 
my  life,  nothing  shall  ever  make  me  open  my  lips." 

He  repaid  me  with  a  fierce  glance  for  the  conditions 
that  I  made ;  but,  as  he  knew  that  1  was  one  to  keep 
my  word,  he  promised  most  solemnly  to  hear  me  to  an 
end. 

"  Well,  then,  my  lord,"  I  said,  "  I  shall  only  farther 
claim,  that  as  you  give  credit  to  one  part  of  my  story, 
so  you  shall  give  credit  to  the  other ;  for  every  word 
that  I  am  about  to  speak  is  equally  true." 

I  then  proceeded  to  recount  all  that  I  had  seen  in  the 
morning  after  he  had  sent  me  back  for  the  papers  ;  and 
never  did  I  see  a  more  terrific  struggle  take  place  in  a 
human  being  than  that  which  agitated  him  during  the 
recital.  When  I  first  spoke  of  Monsieur  de  MesniFs 
horse  tied  to  the  tree,  he  nearly  broke  forth  ;  and 
when  I  came  to  relate  the  scene  that  first  met  my  eye 
in  the  library,  he  started  up  from  off"  his  chair  with  every 
muscle  of  his  face  working  under  excessive  emotion. 
He  remembered  his  promise,  however  ;  and  sitting  down 
again,  covered  his  eyes  with  his  hand  while  I  proceeded : 
but  as  I  concluded  with  the  words  which  his  wife  had 
uttered,  he  caught  me  by  the  arm,  and  gazed  eagerly  in 
my  face,  exclaiming, — "  Ha !  did  she  say  that  T" 

"  On  my  honour !  On  my  soul  she  did,"  I  replied, 
"  as  I  hope  in  heaven  !" 

"  Boy,  you  have  saved  me !"  he  exclaimed,  sinking 
back  in  the  chair ;  and,  to  my  astonishment,  I  saw  a 
tear  rise  up  in  his  eye  and  roll  over  his  cheek.  He 
brushed  it  hastily  away,  and  then  laying  his  hand  kindly 
upon  my  shoulder,  said,  "  John  Marston,  you  have  done 
your  duty  well  and  nobly,  and  by  taking  the  means  you 
have  to  make  me  hear  you  out,  you  have  conferred  an 


94  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

obligation  on  your  lord  that  must  never  be  forgotten. 
To  a  boy  of  your  age  I  cannot  speak  as  I  might  to  others 
of  the  vice  and  evil  that  reign  among  our  highest  dames 
in  Paris ;  but  let  it  suffice,  that  a  woman  who  so  de- 
grades herself  becomes,  to  my  mind,  a  thing  of  loathing 
and  abhorrence  ;  and  if  you  can  conceive  what  it  is  to 
love  with  the  deepest  intensity,  you  may  understand 
what  it  would  be  to  behold  the  beloved  object  suddenly 
change  from  the  dearest  jewel  of  your  heart  to  the 
foulest  object  that  earth  can  present  to  your  eyes.  It 
is  worse,  a  thousand  times,  than  to  see  the  blighting 
change  from  life  to  death.  But  you  have  saved  me ; 
for  the  very  suspicion  of  such  a  thing  would  be  mad- 
ness. But  you  have  saved  me ;  and,  after  that  noble 
speech,  I  shall  never  henceforth  entertain  a  doubt  or  a 
fear." 

How  deeply,  how  sadly  he  deceived  himself,  may 
easily  be  divined ;  for  where  was  there  yet  a  suspicious 
man  that  ever  laid  aside  his  suspicions  1 

"  As  to  the  Count  de  Mesnil,"  he  added,  his  lip  curling 
both  with  scorn  and  anger,  "  I  look  upon  him  but  as  a 
worm  :  he  is  one  of  the  many  who  think  it  honourable, 
and  gay,  and  brilliant  to  act,  as  she  justly  said,  the  hypo- 
crite and  the  villain ;  and  is  contemptible.  Neverthe- 
less, he  must  not  go  unpunished,  and  must  be  cared  for. 
On  his  account  I  will  speak  with  you  to-morrow ;  but 
in  the  mean  time  repeat  once  more  what  your  lady 
replied." 

I  did  as  he  bade  me,  and  he  marked  every  syllable 
attentively. 

"  You  vary  not  a  word,"  he  said  ;  "  and  I  well  know 
that  your  honour  and  your  memory  never  fail.  You 
have  saved  me  from  torments  not  to  be  told,  and  perhaps 
from  deeds  that  might  have  brought  greater  torments 
still ;  you  have  acted  wisely  and  nobly,  and  henceforth 
I  treat  you  as  my  son.  Now,  leave  me,  my  good  boy, 
and  to-morrow  by  six  of  the  clock  be  here  in  the  library, 
when  we  will  speak  of  what  further  steps  are  to  be 
taken  of  the  affair." 

I  left  him  without  reply,  and  went  to  bed,  satisfied 
with  my  own  conduct,  and  gratified  by  the  result.  The 
next  morning  I  was  in  the  library  as  the  clock  struck 
the  hour  that  he  had  named  ;  but  Monsieur  de  Villardin 
was  down  before  me,  and  had  probably  been  so  some 
time,  as  there  were  several  sheets  of  parchment  before 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  95 

him,  and  he  had  just  concluded  the  writing  of  a  paper 
of  some  length  as  I  entered.  He  looked  up  with  a  smile 
when  he  perceived  me,  and  said,  "  General  St.  Maur,  or, 
as  I  believe  I  ought  to  call  him,  Lord  Langleigh,  informed 
me  that  he  and  Lord  Masterton  had,  in  recompense  for 
the  services  you  had  rendered  them,  assigned  you  a  suf- 
ficient revenue  from  one  of  their  farms  to  maintain  you 
at  ease  in  the  station  which  you  are  destined  to  fill. 
Pray  how  much  did  they  thus  grant  you  ?" 

"  A  thousand  crowns  per  annum,  my  lord,"  replied  I, 
"  and,  indeed,  in  your  house  I  do  not  know  what  to  do 
with  it." 

"  Oh,  time  will  teach  you  plenty  of  uses  for  it,"  an- 
swered the  duke  ;  "  and  for  the  service  you  have  ren- 
dered me,  I  am  about  to  add  nearly  double  what  you 
already  possess.  There  is  a  small  farm,  which  I  bought 
lately,  near  my  estates  at  Dumont,  which  produces 
about  eighteen  hundred  crowns  ;  and  besides  the  farm- 
house, there  is  upon  it  the  dwelling  of  the  former  pro- 
prietor, whose  family  is  now  extinct.  It  is  called  Ju- 
vigny.  I  give  it  to  you  for  ever,  holding  only  the  right 
of  guardianship  over  you  and  it,  till  you  are  of  age  by 
law  to  use  it  yourself.  There  are  the  papers,  together 
with  my  directions  to  a  notary  in  regard  to  the  cession. 
Bid  a  groom  take  them  to  Rennes,  and  bring  back  the 
deed  drawn  up  this  evening,  when  I  will  sign  it." 

Warmly,  most  warmly  did  I  express  my  gratitude, 
fancying  myself  now  richer  than  princes  ;  for  the  sum 
of  three  thousand  crowns  per  annum  went  far  beyond 
any  dreams  which  I  yet  had  of  expense.  Monsieur  de 
Villardin  smiled  at  the  enthusiasm  with  which  I  poured 
forth  the  thanks,  and  at  the  ideas  I  seemed  to  entertain 
of  the  boundlessness  of  my  wealth. 

"  Well,  well,"  he  said,  "  you  will  learn  to  appreciate 
it  more  justly  in  time.  Go,  now,  and  give  the  groom  the 
papers,  with  particular  orders  to  bring  back  the  deed 
to-night,  for  no  one  can  tell  what  to-morrow  may  bring 
forth.  Return  to  me  as  soon  as  you  have  given  him 
your  directions." 

I  immediately  obeyed,  and  choosing  one  of  the  grooms, 
who  was  my  more  especial  favourite  in  the  family,  I 
gave  him  the  papers,  with  injunctions  to  use  all  speed 
and  diligence.  I  then  returned  to  the  library,  and  found 
that  the  duke  had  just  concluded  a  billet,  on  which  he 
wrote  the  address  of  the  Count  de  Mesnil,  and  after 


96  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

drawing  a  small  cord  of  floss  silk  across  the  folds,  he 
sealed  the  ligature  at  both  ends,  and  put  the  note  into 
my  hands  : — "  You  will  take  that,"  he  said,  with  a  calm 
smile,  "  to  our  good  friend  the  Count  de  Mesnil ;  but  do 
not  go  till  after  breakfast,  nor  let  it  seem,  by  your 
manner,  that  there  is  any  thing  extraordinary  in  your 
mission ;  for,  to  my  taste,  things  of  this  kind  had  better 
always  be  conducted  as  quietly  as  possible.  Deliver  it 
into  the  count's  own  hand,  when  you  have  reached  his 
dwelling,  and  bring  me  back  his  reply." 

Of  course  I  very  well  understood  that  I  was  charged 
with  one  of  those  cartels  of  mortal  defiance  which  were 
then  so  common  in  every  country  of  Europe.  The 
matter  certainly  was  nothing  new  to  me,  for  many  a 
very  trifling  dispute  had  I  seen  brought  to  the  arbitre- 
ment  of  the  sword  when  I  followed  the  camp  of  the 
cavaliers ;  but  it  did  seem  strange  to  me  that  the  duke 
so  far  departed  from  the  general  customs  of  the  day  as 
to  send  his  defiance  by  a  page,  instead  of  some  man  equal 
in  rank  and  station  to  the  person  for  whom  it  was  in- 
tended. I  found  afterward,  however,  that  his  irritable 
fear  of  ridicule,  which  was  the  next  prominent  charac- 
teristic of  his  mind  to  its  susceptibility  of  the  slightest 
suspicion,  was  the  cause  of  any  thing  that  appeared 
irregular  in  his  method  of  proceeding.  However  that 
might  be,  of  course  I  did  not  object  to  the  task,  though 
it  seemed  to  me  doubtful  how  Monsieur  de  Mesnil  would 
receive  such  a  cartel  from  a  page,  and  what  might  be 
his  treatment  of  the  bearer.  Personal  risk  seldom  en- 
tered into  my  calculation  in  these  matters,  and  I  ordered 
my  horse  to  be  ready  after  breakfast,  and  a  groom  to  be 
prepared  to  accompany  me,  as  gayly  as  if  1  had  been 
going  upon  an  errand  of  pleasure.  Before  setting  out, 
however,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  behaviour 
of  the  duke  towards  his  wife,  and  it,  I  confess,  was  the 
first  thing  that  gave  me  any  pain  in  the  business.  It 
was  so  gentle,  so  aff'ectionate,  so  diff'erent  from  what  it 
had  been  on  former  occasions,  that,  as  the  thought 
flashed  across  my  mind,  that  the  first  day  of  such  ten- 
derness might  be  the  last  of  his  life,  I  would  have  given 
more  than  all  1  had  in  the  world  to  prevent  the  proposed 
encounter  from  taking  place.  To  do  so  was,  of  course, 
impossible ;  and  accordingly,  after  breakfast  I  mounted 
niy  horse,  and  rode  away  for  Mesnil  Moray,  the  dwell- 
ing of  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  adversary. 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  97 

Though  I  was  a  little  gloomy  when  I  set  out,  old  habits 
soon  got  the  better  of  new  feelings,  and  I  readily  brought 
myself  to  look  upon  the  affair  altogether  as  one  of  those 
matters  which  every  man  must  undertake,  at  least,  a 
hundred  times  in  the  course  of  his  life.  "  Monsieur  de 
Villardin,"  I  thought,  "  will  fight  fifty  more,  I  hope,  be- 
fore he  has  done  with  the  sword  ;"  and  with  this  con- 
solatory reflection  I  cantered  on  as  fast  as  I  could. 
Somewhat  less  than  an  hour  brought  me  to  the  gates  of 
the  chateau ;  and,  on  demanding  to  see  Monsieur  de 
Mesnil,  I  was  instantly  admitted  to  his  presence.  I 
thought  he  turned  rather  pale  when  he  saw  me,  but  it 
might  be  merely  imaginary ;  and  certainly,  throughout 
the  whole,  he  behaved  like  a  man  of  honour  and  courage^ 
He  took  the  billet,  and,  cutting  the  silk,  read  it  atten- 
tively, with  a  slight  frown  knitting  his  brows.  He  then 
asked  me,  in  a  calm  tone,  "  Do  you  know  the  contents 
of  this  note,  young  man  ?" 

The  question  puzzled  me  a  little ;  for,  though  I  strongly 
suspected  the  general  nature  of  what  the  billet  contained, 
yet  I  knew  none  of  the  particulars,  and  could  not  even 
be  sure  of  that  which  I  imagined.  1  answered,  there- 
fore, that  "  I  did  not :"  and  the  count  rejoined,  throwing 
the  note  into  the  fire,  *'  Well,  then,  as  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin has  been  kind  enough  to  send  me  an  unceremo- 
nious request,  I  will  send  him  an  unceremonious  reply. 
Tell  him  I  will  accept  his  invitation,  with  all  its  particu- 
lars, and  that  I  am  his  very  obedient  servant.  You  may 
add,  I  would  have  written,  but  that  I  have  a  great  deal 
to  do  between  this  and  night," 

Charged  with  this  ambiguous  message,  I  returned  to 
the  Pres  Vallee,  and  found  Monsieur  de  Villardin  playing 
with  his  little  girl,  while  Madame  de  Villardin  was  in  her 
own  chamber,  preparing  to  go  out  with  him  for  a  walk. 

"  Have  you  brought  any  note  ?"  he  asked  me  immedi- 
ately, taking  advantage  of  his  wife's  absence,  to  inquire 
the  result  of  my  embassy  in  private.  I  replied,  that  I 
had  only  received  a  verbal  answer :  upon  which  he 
formed  a  pretext  to  send  away  the  little  girl,  and  made 
me  give  him  a  detailed  account  of  all  that  had  occurred. 

"  Well,  well,"  he  said,  as  1  concluded,  '*  it  is  all  well. 
Be  prepared  to  go  out  with  me  at  six  o'clock  to  night, 
and  get  a  spade  and  pick-axe  privately  from  the  gar- 
den." 

I  did  not  well  know  what  to  anticipate  from  these  di- 

Vol.  I.— E 


98  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

rections,  for  it  was  then  in  the  early  part  of  spring,  and 
at  six  o'clock,  the  evening  was  too  far  advanced  to  afford 
any  thing  like  sufficient  light  for  a  fair  single  combat. 
Nevertheless,!  had,  of  course,  nothing  to  do  but  to  obey; 
and,  slipping  out  about  half  past  five,  I  got  the  tools  from 
the  garden ;  and  after  placing  them  in  a  spot  where  they 
were  not  likely  to  be  observed,  I  returned  to  the  library, 
where  I  was  very  soon  joined  by  Monsieur  de  Villardin. 
His  hat  and  cloak  were  already  there,  and  I  was  just 
aiding  him  to  put  them  on,  when  the  groom,  who  had 
been  despatched  to  Rennes,  returned  with  a  notary  and 
the  papers  prepared  for  signature.  By  the  calm  way 
with  which  Monsieur  de  Villardin  took  this  interruption, 
called  for  lights,  heard  the  papers  read,  and  went  through 
all  the  necessary  formalities  for  investing  me  with  the 
property  which  he  had  bestowed  upon  me,  I  easily  di- 
vined that  he  had  no  fixed  appointment  for  that  hour, 
and  began  to  suspect  the  real  object  of  his  expedition. 
When  all  was  concluded,  and  the  notary  sent  back  under 
a  safe  escort,  he  bade  me  follow  him.  We  thus  issued 
forth  in  the  dusk  ;  and,  having  furnished  ourselves  with 
the  spade  and  pick-axe,  proceeded  a  short  distance  on 
the  road  towards  Rennes. 

"  Now,  my  young  friend,"  he  said,  at  length,  "  I  must 
trust  to  your  guidance.  I  have  heard  that  you  never 
forget  spot,  person,  or  thing  that  you  once  have  seen. 
Do  you  think  you  can  now  lead  me  to  the  tree  under 
which  Monsieur  de  Mesnil's  horse  was  tied  when  you 
passed  yesterday  morning  1" 

"  I  think  I  can,"  1  replied,  "  and,  certainly,  if  not  to 
the  precise  tree,  I  can  lead  you  to  the  next  one  to  it ;  for 
there  were  but  two  or  three  together,  and  I  know  the 
clump  well." 

When  we  reached  the  neighbourhood  of  the  spot,  the 
various  objects  around  at  once  recalled  to  my  remem- 
brance which  was  the  tree  I  sought ;  and,  having  ap- 
proached it,  Monsieur  de  Villardin  measured  out  a  space 
of  ground  beneath  its  branches  about  six  feet  by  three, 
and,  causing  me  to  remove  the  turf  in  one  piece,  we 
both  set  vigorously  to  work,  and,  with  pick-axe  and 
spade,  soon  hollowed  out  a  sufficient  trench  to  contain 
the  body  of  a  man.  "  If  1  fall,"  he  said,  when  we  had 
concluded  our  work,  "  let  it  be  remembered  that  1  wish 
this  to  be  my  grave.  If  I  survive,  I  will  direct  you  what 
to  do." 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  90 

Before  leaving  the  spot,  he  caused  me  to  carry  about 
U  dozen  shovelfuls  of  the  earth  away,  and  cast  them  into 
the  river,  which  flowed  at  the  distance  of  three  or  four 
hundred  yards.  We  then  placed  the  tools  in  the  grave^ 
and  returned  to  the  chateau,  Monsieur  de  Villardin  di- 
recting me  previously  to  be  up  by  five  the  next  morn- 
ing, to  saddle  his  horse  with  my  own  hands,  and,  leaving 
it  prepared  in  the  stable,  to  go  on  to  the  spot  where  we 
had  been  working,  and  wait  there  for  his  coming. 

The  coldness  with  which  he  set  about  all  his  proceed- 
ings, and  my  knowledge  of  his  skill  as  a  swordsman, 
made  me  feel  very  confident  that  the  issue  of  the  com- 
bat would  be  in  his  favour,  although  his  adversary  was 
his  junior  by  near  twenty  years.  I  had  seen  so  much 
of  such  affairs,  too,  that  I  could  generally  form  a  very 
good  guess  in  regard  to  the  result ;  and,  from  all  1  had 
observed  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  conduct  during  the 
day,  I  went  to  bed  with  very  little  fear  for  his  safety  the 
next  morning.  I  was  up  at  the  time  prescribed,  saddled 
the  horse  as  well  as  I  could  in  utter  darkness,  and  then 
walked  away  to  the  tree,  which  I  reached  just  as  the  first 
faint  gray  of  the  morning  began  to  mingle  with  the 
blackness  of  night. 

When  I  had  waited  there  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  I 
heard  the  sound  of  a  horse's  feet,  and,  a  moment  after, 
perceived  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  who  sprang  to  the 
ground,  and,  giving  me  his  rein  to  hold,  only  remarked 
that  it  was  darker  than  he  had  expected  ;  although,  by 
this  time,  the  dawn  had  made  considerable  progress.  In 
about  five  minutes  after,  which  he  spent  in  selecting  a 
piece  of  firm  dry  turf  unencumbered  by  trees,  and  fitted, 
as  far  as  possible,  for  the  sort  of  morning's  amusement 
in  which  he  was  going  to  exercise  himself,  the  sound  of 
another  horse's  feet  was  heard,  and  we  were  soon  joined 
by  the  Count  de  Mesnil.  He  was  quite  alone  ;  and.  dis- 
mounting at  a  little  distance,  he  bowed  coldly  to  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin,  saying,  "As  you  requested,  sir,  I  have 
come  alone.     You,  I  see,  have  brought  your  page." 

"  I  did  so,  sir,"  replied  the  duke,  "  in  the  first  place, 
that  he  might  hold  our  horses  ;  in  the  next,  that  he  might 
aid  the  survivor  in  filling  up  yon  trench ;"  and  he  pointed 
to  the  grave.  "  He  is  a  boy  of  honour  and  of  birth,"  he 
added,  "  and  you  may  trust  him  fully ;  but,  if  you  desire 
it,  I  will  order  him  to  withdraw," 

•"  Not  on  my  account,"  replied  Monsiepr  de  Mesnil ; 
E2 


100  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

"  I  am  just  as  well  pleased  that  he  should  be  present ; 
though,  I  must  say,  that  I  think  the  Duke  de  Villardin 
might  have  found  some  fitter  person  than  a  page  to  carry 
his  cartel  to  the  Count  de  Mesnil." 

"  I  have  chosen  the  method  of  proceeding  I  have  fol- 
lowed, Monsieur  de  Mesnil,  not  only  because  I  think 
these  things  between  brave  men  had  better  always  be 
done  as  quietly  as  possible,  but  also  because  I  judged  it 
unnecessary  that  many  witnesses  should  hear  me  tell 
you,  as  I  now  do,  that  I  look  upon  you  as  a  villain,  a  hy- 
pocrite, and  a  traitor,  devoid  of  every  good  feeling  but 
the  brute  quality  of  courage  !" 

"Enough,  enough,  sir,"  cried  the  Count  de  Mesnil: 
"  the  fewer  of  such  words  as  well  as  the  fewer  witnesses 
the  better.     Where  do  you  take  your  ground  V 

He  then  gave  me  his  horse's  rein,  and  Monsieur  de 
Villardin  led  him  to  the  spot  which  he  had  chosen,  made 
him  examine  it  accurately,  to  see  that  there  was  no  in- 
equality or  artifice,  and  then,  drawing  his  sword,  caused 
his  adversary  to  measure  it  with  the  blade  of  his  own, 
which  proved  to  be  nearly  an  inch  longer.  On  perceiv- 
ing this  difference,  the  count  declared  that  he  was 
perfectly  willing  to  wait,  if  Monsieur  de  Villardin  thought 
fit  to  send  to  the  castle  for  a  more  equal  weapon  ;  but 
the  duke  replied,  that  he  was  quite  contented  with  the 
sword  that  he  had  ;  and,  throwing  away  his  cloak,  hat, 
and  coat,  took  his  ground,  and  put  himself  in  a  posture 
of  defence. 

The  Count  de  Mesnil  prepared  for  the  combat  more 
slowly.  He  certainly  evinced  no  fear ;  but  there  were 
two  or  three  slight  traits  that  I  remarked  in  his  conduct, 
which  induced  me  to  believe  that,  either  from  the  con- 
sciousness of  having  wronged  his  friend,  or  from  feeling 
himself  inferior  in  skill  and  dexterity,  he  advanced  not 
to  the  encounter  with  the  same  confidence  as  that  which 
appeared  in  the  whole  demeanour  of  Monsieur  de  Villar- 
din. When  the  duke  had  first  referred  to  the  grave 
which  we  had  dug  the  night  before,  and  pointed  it  out 
with  his  hand,  the  eye  of  the  young  count  strained 
eagerly  upon  it  for  a  moment,  and  it  was  evident  that  the 
anticipations  the  sight  naturally  called  up  were  felt  bit- 
terly. He  was  pale,  too,  and  though  he  spoke  firmly 
and  calmly,  I  perceived  that  there  was  a  diflEiculty  in  un- 
fastening his  cloak,  and  all  the  other  little  preparations, 
which  spoke   a  mind  intensely  occupied  with  other 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  101 

thoughts.  I  observed,  also,  and  it  seemed  somewhat 
strange,  that  he  in  no  degree  referred  to  the  cause  of  his 
present  hostile  opposition  to  a  man  who  had  been  so 
lately  his  friend ;  and  indeed  it  seemed  that  the  few 
short  lines  which  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  written  had 
been  quite  sufficient  to  explain  all,  and  to  make  him  feel 
that  amity  was  changed  for  ever  into  unquenchable  hate 
between  them. 

At  length  all  w^as  prepared,  and  the  swords  of  the 
two  combatants  crossed.  After  a  few  parades  on 
either  part,  which  served  no  purpose  but  to  let  each 
know  the  skill  and  peculiar  mode  of  fencing  of  his  ad- 
versary, the  assault  assumed  a  more  serious  character  ; 
but  still  it  appeared  that  both  wished  to  maintain  the 
defensive,  and  I  plainly  saw  that,  more  than  once,  the 
duke  could  have  wounded  or  disarmed  his  opponent,  had 
he  thought  fit.  In  a  short  time,  however,  the  Count  de 
Mesnil,  who  was  of  a  hasty  and  passionate  disposition,  and 
not  so  old  a  soldier  as  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  became 
heated  in  the  encounter,  and  pressed  his  antagonist  hard, 
still  keeping  a  wary  hand  and  eye,  but  evidently  becom- 
ing more  and  more  vehement  at  each  pass.  At  length,  in 
a  furious  lunge,  by  not  keeping  his  right  foot  perfectly 
straight,  and  probably  more  accustomed  to  the  salle 
d'armes  than  the  greensward,  he  slipped,  and  came  upon 
his  knee,  perfectly  at  the  mercy  of  his  adversary ;  but 
Monsieur  de  Villardin,  to  my  surprise,  dropped  the  point 
of  his  sword,  bidding  him  rise. 

"  I  do  not  take  advantage  of  an  accident,  sir,"  he  said. 
The  count  rose,  with  downcast  eyes  and  a  burning  cheek, 
and  replied,  after  a  moment's  pause, "  1  cannot,  of  course, 
after  this  act  of  generosity,  think — " 

"  If,  sir,"  said  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  cutting  him 
short,  "  you  are  contented  to  go  forth  into  the  world 
again  as  one  who  bears  the  name  of  villain,  and  hypo- 
crite, and  scoundrel — and,  I  shall  then  add,  coward — 
mount  your  horse  and  begone : — if  not,  resume  your 
place." 

The  count's  eye  flashed,  and  the  combat  was  instantly 
renewed,  but  this  time  with  a  different  result.  At  the 
end  of  four  or  five  passes,  with  a  movement  so  rapid 
that  I  could  scarcely  see  how  it  was  effected,  though  it 
may  be  believed  I  was  an  eager  spectator,  Monsieur  de 
Villardin  parried  a  lunge  of  his  adversary  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  leave  the  whole  of  the  count's  person 


102  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

open.  He  then  lunged  in  return,  and  the  next  moment 
the  Count  de  Mesnil  was  lying  prostrate  on  the  turf. 
At  a  sign  from  the  duke,  I  threw  the  bridles  of  the  horses 
over  a  low  bough,  and  ran  up  to  the  spot.  The  fallen 
man  by  that  time  had  raised  himself  upon  one  arm,  and 
with  the  other  hand  seemed  grasping  at  the  blades  of 
grass  ;  but  he  spoke  not,  and  his  head  drooping  forward, 
concealed  his  countenance.  "  Shall  I  bring  water  ?"  1 
said  ;  but,  ere  time  was  given  for  an  answer,  the  strength 
which  had  enabled  him  to  raise  himself  so  far  passed 
away,  and  with  a  single  groan  he  fell  back  upon  the 
ground  and  expired. 

We  stood  and  gazed  upon  his  still,  pale  countenance 
for  several  minutes ;  but  it  was  very  evident,  from  the 
first  look,  that  his  career  was  at  end ;  and,  after  a  pause, 
the  duke  bent  over  him  and  opened  his  vest.  Scarcely 
a  drop  of  blood  had  flowed  from  the  wound  which  caused 
his  death,  although,  from  the  direction  it  had  taken,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  it  must  have  pierced  his  heart. 

"  It  is  over  !"  said  Monsieur  de  Villardin, — '*  it  is  over ! 
yet,  put  your  hand  upon  his  heart,  my  boy :  see  if  it 
beats." 

As  I  opened  his  shirt  to  do  so,  there  dropped  out  a 
locket,  which  was  suspended  from  his  neck  by  a  blue 
riband,  and  which  contained  a  single  lock  of  dark  hair. 
As  soon  as  he  saw  it  the  duke  caught  it  up,  and  un- 
fastening the  riband,  gazed  upon  the  hair  for  a  moment 
or  two  with  an  eager  look.  It  was  certainly  the  colour, 
to  a  very  shade,  of  that  of  Madame  de  Villardin ;  and  I 
instantly  saw  that  the  demon  had  taken  possession  of 
her  husband  once  more.  After  gazing  at  the  locket  for 
several  minutes,  he  put  it  by,  and  then  asked  me,  sternly, 
if  the  man  were  dead. 

I  replied  that  he  certainly  was,  as  far  as  I  could  dis- 
cover. "  Then  now  to  our  next  task,"  said  the  duke  : 
"  bring  me  yon  mantle  and  coat." 

I  immediately  obeyed,  and  bringing  forward  the 
clothes  of  the  unhappy  count,  I  aided  in  wrapping  the 
body  therein ;  and  then,  taking  the  feet,  while  the  duke 
raised  the  head,  we  bore  the  corpse  to  the  grave  that 
we  had  dug,  and  laid  it  there,  without  prayer  or  bene- 
diction. We  next  placed  the  hat  and  sword  of  the  de- 
ceased in  the  earth  along  with  him  ;  and  then,  as  fast 
as  possible,  filled  up  the  pit  with  mould.  Notwith- 
standing the  (Quantity  of  earth  I  had  removed  the  nigh;!l 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  103 

before,  there  was  still  more  than  enough  to  fill  up  the 
grave  to  the  level  of  the  other  ground,  and  I  had  four  or 
five  shovelfuls  more  to  carry  down  and  cast  into  the  river. 
When  that  was  done,  however,  and  the  last  spadeful  had 
been  disposed  of,  we  laid  the  turf  down  again  over  the 
spot ;  and  so  carefully  had  it  been  removed,  that,  though 
the  ground  was  a  little  raised,  it  required  some  ex- 
amination to  discover  where  the  aperture  had  been 
made. 

"  A  few  showers  of  rain,"  said  the  duke,  as  he  gazed 
upon  the  grave,  "  will  remove  every  trace." 

I  replied  nothing,  but  I  thought  that  the  rain  of  many 
years  would  never  remove  the  traces  of  that  morning's 
work  from  his  heart  or  from  my  memory.  In  regard  to 
the  ground,  however,  I  entertained  no  apprehension  of 
its  ever  being  discovered.  The  young  count  himself, 
in  tying  his  horse  to  that  tree  when  he  came  on  his  fur- 
tive and  evil  visit  to  the  dwelling  of  his  friend,  had  of 
course  selected  one  of  the  most  retired  spots  that  he 
could  find  ;  and  it  was  only  the  accidental  circumstance 
of  my  cutting  across  from  the  particular  point  of  the 
high  road  where  I  had  left  Monsieur  de  Villardin  on  the 
way  to  Rennes,  that  had  caused  me  to  discover  the 
charger  in  that  situation.  In  that  spot,  too,  the  turf 
was  short,  and  the  grass  any  thing  but  luxuriant ;  so  that 
the  shepherds  were  not  likely  to  lead  their  flocks  thither, 
at  least,  till  the  year  was  more  advanced,  by  which 
time  all  traces  of  the  grave  would  be  effaced.  The  only 
thing  now  to  dispose  of  was  the  horse ;  and  after  ex- 
amining the  ground  carefully,  in  order  to  ascertain  that 
nothing  of  any  kind  had  been  dropped  or  forgotten,  the 
duke  directed  me  to  lead  the  animal  some  distance  in 
the  way  to  the  count's  own  dwelling,  and  then  turn  him 
loose. 

I  did  as  he  bade  me,  leaving  Monsieur  de  Villardin  to 
return  to  the  castle  alone  ;  and  taking  the  horse  by  the 
bridle,  1  brought  it  to  the  vicinity  of  the  road  which  led 
to  Mesnil  Moray,  at  a  spot  about  half  a  mile  from  the 
bridge  which  crosses  the  Vilaine.  There  I  gave  it  the 
rein ;  and  though  it  had  followed  as  quietly  as  possible 
lip  to  that  moment,  no  sooner  did  it  find  itself  free,  than 
it  darted  away  as  if  it  had  suddenly  become  mad.  It 
sprang  at  once  over  a  fence,  and  crossed  the  high  road, 
taking  the  direction  of  its  lord's  dwelling,  without  any 
r£gard  to  path.    I  climbed  up  a  neighbouring  bank  to 


104  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

watch  its  course  for  an  instant ;  and,  to  my  surprise,  saw 
it  plunge  into  the  river,  and  after  sinking  down  from  the 
force  with  which  it  darted  in,  rise  up  again,  swim  the 
stream,  spring  up  the  bank,  and  gallop  away  across  the 
fields. 

There  was  something  awful  in  the  sight ;  and  I  could 
not  help  thinking,  as  the  noble  horse  bounded  away, 
that  there  was  a  living  witness  of  the  bloody  scene  in 
which  1  had  just  taken  part,  that,  could  he  find  voice, 
would  soon  call  the  friends  of  his  fallen  lord  to  avenge 
his  death. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Whatever  the  duke  himself  might  feel,  I  returned 
home  gloomy  from  my  share  in  the  affair.  I  sincerely 
believed,  indeed,  that  I  had  done  nothing  but  my  duty 
in  informing  him  of  the  injury  that  the  Count  de  Mesnil 
had  striven  to  do  him,  and  of  the  insult  that  had  been 
offered  to  his  wife.  He,  on  his  part,  too,  I  firmly 
believe,  imagined  that  he  had  done  nothing  but  that 
which  he  was  bound  to  do  as  a  soldier  and  a  man  of 
honour ;  but  still  there  was  something  in  the  whole 
affair — the  solitary  encounter — the  grave  prepared — the 
burial  in  unhallowed  ground,  which  added  to  the  event 
all  those  dark  and  awful  associations  that  deprived  us 
of  the  power  of  classing  it  with  those  common  encoun- 
ters, with  which  he  and  I  were  both  too  familiar  to 
remember  them  with  any  great  pain  when  they  were 
over. 

A  little  less  than  an  hour  had  been  consumed  in  the 
whole  affair,  at  least  on  the  part  of  the  duke,  for  I  had 
been  absent  for  a  much  longer  space  of  time  in  leading 
away  the  horse  of  the  deceased  cavalier.  However, 
as  our  household  was  not  the  most  matutinal  in  the 
world,  few  of  the  servants  were  up,  even  when  I  re- 
turned ;  and  I  doubt  not  that  no  one  in  the  whole  family 
but  myself  had  the  slightest  suspicion  that  the  duke  had 
for  a  moment  quitted  his  own  dwelling.  Thinking  it 
right  to  make  a  report  of  what  I  had  done  after  I  had 
left  him,  I  now  went  at  once  to  the  library,  where  I 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  105 

found  him,  in  his  robe  de  chambre,  seated  at  a  table,  on 
which  neither  books  or  papers  were  opened  before  him, 
but  there  lay  the  fatal  locket  which  he  had  t^,ken  from  the 
person  of  the  Count  de  Mesnil,  and  his  eyes  were  fixed 
steadfastly  upon  the  lock  of  dark  hair  that  it  contained. 
He  instantly  took  it  up  when  I  entered,  and  of  course  I 
ventured  to  make  no  observation,  though  I  saw  from 
his  haggard  look  and  frowning  brow  that  he  was  once 
more  adding  the  torments  of  suspicion  to  the  pangs 
which  the  fatal  business  of  that  morning  had  left  behind. 
He  listened  attentively  to  all  I  had  to  say,  and  though 
he  gave  a  slight  shudder  when  I  mentioned  the  wild  way 
in  which  the  horse  had  dashed  off  towards  Mesnil 
Moray,  he  made  no  farther  comment,  but  waved  me  to 
leave  him,  saying  he  would  speak  with  me  more  another 
time. 

No  injunction  to  secrecy  had  been  laid  upon  me,  but 
the  duke  seemed  to  consider  it  perfectly  unnecessary  to 
enjoin  me  not  to  reveal  the  transactions  of  which  I  had 
been  a  witness,  and  in  some  of  which  I  had  borne  a  part. 
As  may  be  well  conceived,  I  never  dreamed  of  such  a 
thing  as  babbling,  and  ihe  matter  lay  buried  as  deep  and 
as  securely  in  my  heart  as  it  did  in  his  own.  Nobody 
noticed  that  I  had  been  out  earlier  than  usual,  and  con- 
sequently I  was  subjected  to  no  questions  ;  and  the 
only  single  observation  referring  to  the  business  which 
I  ever  heard  m  the  family,  was  when  the  head  groom 
asked  the  duke's  permission  to  take  his  favourite  horse 
to  the  farrier  at  Rennes,  arguing  that  the  animal  was  ill, 
from  having  found  him  that  morning  as  heated  as  if  he 
had  come  from  a  gallop. 

The  household  of  the  Pres  Vallee  were,  indeed, 
among  the  last  to  hear  the  rumours  and  inquiries  which 
soon  began  to  spread  concerning  the  Count  de  Mesnil. 
That  some  accident  had  happened  to  him  became  evi- 
dent to  his  servants  and  retainers  within  a  short  time 
after  his  death  had  taken  place  ;  for  although  no  one  had 
remarked,  with  any  particular  attention,  the  fact  of  his 
having  gone  out  at  such  an  early  hour  unaccompanied, 
supposing  him  to  be  engaged  in  some  love  intrigue 
which  did  not  court  witnesses,  yet  when,  in  about  two 
hours  after,  his  horse,  masterless  and  foaming,  darted 
into  the  court-yard  of  the  castle,  it  could  no  longer  be 
doubted  that  the  adventure  of  the  morning  had  termi- 
nated ill  for  the  count.  On  examining  the  trappings 
E3 


106  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

and  accoutrements  of  the  horse,  it  was  discovered  thsC 
not  only  the  girths,  but  the  saddle  itself  was  drenched 
with  water,  and  of  course  conjecture  was  led  upon  a 
new  and  a  false  train  concerning- the  event  that  had  oc- 
curred. Some,  indeed,  contended  that  the  count  had 
been  killed  by  robbers  or  assassins  ;  but  the  greater  part 
of  his  followers  believed  that,  in  attempting  to  swim  the 
river,  he  had  been  washed  out  of  the  saddle  and  drowned. 
Information,  however,  was  sent  immediately  to  Rennes  ; 
all  his  relations  had  notice  of  what  had  taken  place,  and 
an  immediate  search  and  investigation  were  instituted 
to  discover  his  body,  and  to  ascertain  the  circumstances 
of  his  fate.  A  new  light,  however,  was  thrown  upon  the 
business  when  the  papers  of  the  unfortunate  young  no- 
bleman were  opened  by  the  proper  person.  It  was  then 
found,  by  two  documents  which  he  had  written  on  the 
night  previous  to  the  morning  of  his  death,  that  he  had 
anticipated  such  an  event,  and  had  made  every  disposi- 
tion of  his  property  accordingly.  He  referred  not,  how- 
ever, in  the  shghtest  degree  to  the  sort  of  danger  which 
he  apprehended ;  the  cartel  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin, 
which  had  probably  been  couched  in  terms  of  bitter 
reproach,  had  been  destroyed  likewise  ;  and,  conse- 
quently, imagination  had  as  wide  a  range  as  ever. 
Still  some  declared  that  he  had  purposely  drowned 
himself,  and  certainly  the  state  in  which  his  horse  had 
returned  justified  the  searches  which  were  made  for  his 
body  in  the  river  ;  but  others  more  wildly  contended — 
as  he  had  taken  a  road  which  might,  perhaps,  have  led 
him  to  the  forest — that  he  had  been  murdered  by  the 
robbers  who  had  so  lately  attacked  and  slain  one  of  the 
royal  couriers,  with  the  three  soldiers  by  whom  he  had 
been  attended.  New  perquisitions  were  made  in  the 
forest.  The  whole  country  round  about  was  searched 
without  effect.  Rumours,  astonishment,  exaggeration, 
and  a  thousand  falsehoods  and  absurdities  filled  up  the 
next  six  weeks,  and  then  the  whole  gradually  faded 
away,  till  the  nine  days'  wonder  was  at  an  end,  and  the 
death  of  the  young  Count  de  Mesnil  became  a  story  to 
frighten  children. 

During  the  six  weeks,  however,  that  the  fruitless  in- 
vestigations continued,  gloom  and  darkness  reigned 
over  our  dwelling.  Deep  and  painful  were  evidently 
the  feelings  of  the  Duke  de  Villardin  in  regard  to  this 
event  >  and  a  thousand  times,  I  am  sure,  did  he  regret 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL,  107 

that  he  had  not  pursued  the  usual  mode  of  arranging  such 
encounters,  which  would,  at  least,  have  spared  him 
every  accessory  circumstance  that  now  tormented  him 
from  day  to  day.  As  a  friend  to  the  dead  nobleman, 
he  was  frequently  consulted  upon  his  affairs,  and  even 
in  regard  to  the  search  for  his  body ;  and  all  thought  that 
they  were  speaking  upon  a  subject  which  must  interest 
him,  when  they  detailed  to  his  ears  any  of  the  numerous 
absurdities  that  were  current  in  the  country  concerning 
the  death  of  the  count.  All  this  was  very  terrible  ;  but, 
besides  all  this,  there  were  feelings  in  the  heart  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  which  aggravated  the  regrets  con- 
sequent upon  the  deed  which  he  had  committed.  He 
had  known  the  young  Count  de  Mesnil  as  a  boy.  He 
had  known  and  loved  his  parents.  He  had  seen  him 
grow  up  their  hope  and  joy.  He  had  himself  anticipated 
great  things  from  his  early  promise,  and  yet  his  had 
been  the  hand  thus  early  to  lay  him  low  in  a  bloody  and 
an  unknown  grave. 

Though  sometimes  he  spoke  to  me  upon  the  subject 
when  we  were  perfectly  alone,  it  was  more  from  vari- 
ous little  points  in  his  conduct  than  from  his  own  words 
that  I  discovered  these  feelings.  So  far  from  ever 
going  near  the  spot  where  the  death  of  the  Count  de 
Mesnil  had  taken  place,  he  never,  when  he  could  avoid 
it,  rode  even  in  that  direction,  as  if  the  very  wind  which 
blew  from  the  grave  wafted  fresh  reproaches  to  his  heart. 
Even  in  riding  to  Rennes,  the  road  to  M^hich  city  passed 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  spot,  if  he  could  possibly  devise 
any  excuse  for  so  doing,  he  would  take  the  most  cir- 
cuitous path  to  avoid  even  coming  in  its  neighbourhood. 

Nevertheless,  whenever  he  spoke  to  me  on  the  sub- 
ject, he  justified  all  that  he  had  done,  and  declared,  that 
were  it  to  do  over  again,  he  would  act  exactly,  in  the 
same  manner.  I  saw,  too,  that  unhappily  there  was 
another  feeling  in  his  bosom,  which,  while  it  rendered 
him  more  miserable  than  it  is  possible  to  describe,  con- 
firmed him  in  this  impression — I  mean  the  suspicions 
which  had  been  freshly  excited  in  regard  to  his  wife, 
which,  as  the  effect  produced  upon  his  mind  by  my  report 
of  her  conversation  with  Monsieur  de  Mesnil  died  away, 
seemed  to  become  stronger  and  stronger  every  hour. 
It  was  long,  indeed,  before  he  again  spoke  to  me  oa 
the  subject ;  but  twice  I  saw  him  with  the  locket  in  his 
hand,  and  at  other  times  his  eye  would  rest  on  the  dark 


108  THE   ADVENTURES    OP 

tresses  of  Madame  de  Villardin,  while  I  could  see  plainly 
that  he  was  torturing  his  own  heart  by  comparing  them 
in  shade  and  colour  with  the  ringlet  which  that  locket 
contained.  A  doubt  also  more  dreadful  still,  seemed 
to  have  taken  possession  of  his  mind ;  at  least  I  argued 
so  from  the  following  circumstance. 

From  the  various  painful  feelings  connected  with  the 
Pres  Vallee,  he  had  determined  to  change  his  residence 
for  a  time  to  the  chateau  of  Dumont ;  and  he  told  me 
that  he  should  despatch  me  thither  before  the  rest  of 
the  family.  The  day  previous  to  my  departure  he  sent 
for  me  to  speak  wath  him  in  the  saloon,  in  regard  to 
various  matters  which  were  to  be  done  before  his  ar- 
rival at  Dumont.  The  duchess  and  his  little  girl  were 
both  present ;  and,  after  he  had  concluded  his  direc- 
tions, Madame  de  Villardin  told  me  that  if  I  would 
wait  a  few  minutes  she  would  bring  me  a  billet  for  her 
old  nurse,  who  inhabited  the  castle  to  which  I  was 
going.  I  was  standing  near  a  window  behind  the  duke, 
and  when  his  wife  rose,  and  proceeded  towards  her 
own  room  to  write  the  note  she  had  promised, — dis- 
playing, as  she  did  so,  that  alteration  in  her  figure 
which  denoted  her  situation, — I  saw  the  eye  of  her  hus- 
band fix  upon  her  with  an  intensity  that  seemed  scarcely 
sane.  Happily  she  did  not  perceive  it,  but  walked 
slowly  out  of  the  room ;  and,  as  soon  as  she  was  gone, 
Monsieur  de  Villardin,  who  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that 
there  was  any  one  else  present,  caught  his  little  girl  in 
his  arms,  and  kissed  her  repeatedly,  murmuring, — 
"  Thou  at  least  art  mine  own." 

He  started  when  he  remembered  that  I  was  there, 
and  a  quick  flush  came  over  his  cheek ;  but  the  expres- 
sion of  deep  grief  which,  I  feel  sure,  must  have  been 
upon  my  countenance,  appeared  instantly  to  calm  him, 
and,  laying  his  hand  affectionately  upon  my  shoulder, 
he  said, — "  Thou  art  a  good  youth.  When  thou  hast 
got  this  note,  go  into  the  park  and  wait  me  there ;  I 
wish  to  speak  with  thee  for  some  time." 

As  there  is  never  any  telling  to  what  acts  of  madness 
or  weakness,  folly  or  meanness,  a  suspicious  nature  will 
not  reduce  a  man,  I  was  almost  afraid  that  Monsieur  de 
Villardin  was  desirous  of  examining  the  contents  of  his 
■wife's  note  ;  and  I  felt  not  a  httle  uneasy  under  the  ap- 
prehension of  his  proposing  to  me  to  give  it  up  to  him. 
But  in  this  I  did  him  injustice ;  and  when,  after  receiving 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  109 

the  billet,  I  had  gone  out  into  the  park,  and  he  had 
joined  me,  he  at  once  turned  the  conversation  to  mat- 
ters entirely  in  the  past.  "  From  every  thing,"  he  said, 
"  that  I  have  seen  and  heard,  I  am  inclined,  my  boy,  to 
put  the  fullest  faith  in  all  you  say ;  and  of  this  fact  you 
cannot  doubt,  since  upon  your  word  alone  I  have  risked 
my  own  life  and  taken  that  of  another.  There  are, 
nevertheless,  some  circumstances  of  an  extraordinary 
nature,  which  make  me  desirous  that  you  should  repeat, 
once  more,  the  conversation  which  you  overheard  be- 
tween Madame  de  Villardin  and  the  unhappy  young  man 
who  lies  out  yonder ;"  and  he  pointed  with  his  hand 
in  the  direction  of  the  spot  where  the  Count  de  Mesnil 
was  buried.  "  Tell  me,  then,  exactly  the  whole  truth," 
he  added,  "  and  fear  not  that  any  thing  you  may  say  will 
agitate  or  affect  me." 

I  willingly  obeyed,  for  I  well  knew  that  impressions 
of  good  being  never  so  lasting  as  impressions  of  evil, 
require  reiteration  ;  and,  without  varying  a  word,  as  far 
as  my  memory  would  serve  me,  I  recapitulated  exactly 
all  that  had  passed  between  the  duchess  and  the  Count 
de  Mesnil,  adding,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  tone  of 
scorn  and  contempt  in  which  she  spoke  to  him  was 
more  forcible  than  even  her  words. 

"  In  riding  past  the  house  that  day,"  demanded  the 
duke,  "  which  side  did  you  take  V 

"  The  opposite  side  to  the  small  saloon,  my  lord,"  I 
replied,  very  well  understanding  to  what  his  question 
tended  ;  "  and  as  I  came  over  the  turf,  and  from  among 
the  trees, — which,  if  you  remember  the  way  I  took, 
you  will  see  I  must  have  done, — it  is  perfectly  impossible 
that  any  one  in  that  side  of  the  house  could  either  have 
heard  or  have  observed  my  return." 

"But,  could  they  not  hear  you  enter  the  library?" 
demanded  the  duke. 

"Impossible,  my  lord,"  I  answered,  "for  the  first 
door  was  open,  and  the  second,  as  you  know,  makes  no 
noise ;  besides,  I  saw  the  whole  immediately,  and 
Madame  la  Duchesse  was  speaking  before  1  entered. 
It  was  only  the  end  of  what  she  said  that  I  heard." 

Monsieur  de  Villardin  made  no  reply  for  some  time, 
but  pondered  deeply  over  my  words,  gnawing  his  lip, 
and  knitting  his  brow.  At  length  he  spoke,  but  it 
seemed  more  to  himself  than  to  me  that  he  addressed 
his  words.     "  And  yet,  that  he  should  possess  a  lock 


110  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

of  her  hair !"  he  said :  "  it  is  impossible  ! — there  must 
be  some  deceit." 

"  Oh,  my  lord,  it  is  not  her  hair,"  I  cried  ;  "  depend 
upon  it,  there  is  some  mistake." 

"  False  boy!"  he  cried,  turning  angrily  upon  me,  "it 
is  her  hair  !  There  is  no  mistake !  Have  I  not  proved 
it  by  every  test  1  Either  you  have  been  deceived  or 
are  deceiving.  But,  no !  you  are  deceived,  I  believe. 
Leave  me — leave  me,  sir  !" 

It  may  easily  be  conceived  that  I  obeyed  willingly,  for 
there  is  but  little  use  in  reasoning  with  a  madman,  and 
such  I  looked  upon  Monsieur  de  Villardin  to  be,  in  the 
matter  of  jealousy  at  least.  Returning  to  the  castle,  I 
occupied  myself  as  usual ;  but  the  duke  did  not  come 
back  for  several  hours,  wandering  about,  as  had  been 
his  custom  lately,  busied  with  solitary  reveries  which 
but  served  to  foster  the  gloom  and  anxiety  to  which  he 
was  a  prey. 

The  next  morning,  as  I  was  to  set  out  for  Dumont 
before  the  breakfast  hour  of  the  household,  I  descended 
about  eight  o'clock  to  the  apartments  of  good  old  Jerome 
Laborde,  whose  affection  for  me  had  not  decreased  since 
I  had  rendered  so  many  services  to  his  nephew.  I  cal- 
culated, therefore,  on  finding  a  substantial  meal  pre- 
pared for  me  in  his  room  ;  nor  was  I  mistaken,  for  there 
it  stood  upon  the  table,  consisting  of  every  thing  quali- 
fied to  fortify  the  eager  and  craving  stomach  of  youth 
against  the  effects  of  a  long  journey. 

"  Thank  you,  thank  you,  good  Jerome,"  I  cried,  at  the 
sight ;  "  thank  you  both  for  my  breakfast,  and  for  rising 
betimes  in  the  morning  to  give  it  me,  as  I  know  you 
love  not  to  be  the  first  in  the  house  to  see  the  sun." 

"  Alack !  young  gentleman,"  he  answered,  with  a 
mournful  shake  of  the  head,  *'  although  I  have  been  up 
an  hour,  yet  I  am  not  by  several  the  first  that  saw  the 
sun  this  morning.  My  lord  has  been  up  since  six.  So 
has  Gaspard  de  Belleville,  and  closeted  with  his  master 
for  an  hour.  So  too  has  been  that  pert  slut  Suzette, 
my  mistress's  maid,  and  she  too  has  been  called  to  the 
conference.  I  fear  all  this  bodes  our  poor  lady  no  good, 
though  God  knows  what  my  lord  can  find  to  be  jealous 
of  here,  where  she  sees  not  a  living  soul  but  himself." 

This  intelligence  did  not  serve  as  a  very  pleasant 
accompaniment  to  my  breakfast.  I  saw  at  once  how 
affairs  were   going,  and  easily  divined  that  my  lord, 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALt.  Ill 

finding  me  so  little  disposed  to  pamper  the  jealousy, 
which,  though  it  tore  his  very  heart,  was  still  his  fa- 
vourite passion,  was  inclined  to  take  Gaspard  into  his 
confidence,  very  sure  of  finding  all  sort  of  comphance 
on  his  part.  To  him  I  had  been,  as  it  were,  a  blunt 
razor  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  wished  to  cut  his  own 
throat ;  but  Gaspard  de  Belleville  was  very  well  inclined, 
I  believed,  to  prove  the  instrument  of  the  wrong  which 
his  lord  inflicted  upon  himself.  From  this  new  arrange- 
ment there  was  of  course  much  to  fear,  as  far  as  my 
personal  favour  with  the  duke  went ;  but,  even  under 
that  mortification,  it  was  no  small  consolation  to  me  to 
think  that  Gaspard  could  do  little  to  injure  the  poor 
duchess.  However  malevolent  might  be  his  natural  dis- 
position, as  far  as  I  knew,  he  had  seen  nothing  which  he 
could  distort  to  evil  purposes,  and  I  also  believed  him 
to  be  too  stupid  to  frame  a  story  for  himself,  or  to  invent 
circumstances  with  such  a  regard  to  probability  as  would 
deceive  even  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  willing  credulity. 
What  might  proceed  from  the  agency  of  the  maid,  Su- 
zette,  I  could  not  tell.  She  was  herself  a  bold,  in- 
triguing, saucy  woman ;  suspected  strongly  by  every 
one  of  not  being  quite  a  Diana ;  but  I  believed  that  she 
really  was  attached  to  her  mistress,  and  trusted  to  that 
attachment  to  vindicate  the  duchess  from  all  suspicion. 

My  fears,  therefore,  if  I  can  call  them  fears,  were 
chiefly  confined  to  myself;  and,  although  I  may  safely 
say — now  that  it  is  all  past  and  over — that  interested 
feelings  had  nothing  to  do  with  my  apprehensions,  yet 
it  was  most  painful  to  me  to  think  I  might  be  supplanted 
in  the  aff'ection  and  confidence  of  a  nobleman,  for  whom, 
with  all  his  faults  and  his  weakness,  1  entertained  a 
sincere  aff'ection. 

"  Well,  Jerome,"  I  said,  after  a  moment's  thought, 
"  you  are  an  old  and  faithful  follower  of  Monsieur  de 
Villardin.  You  see,  as  we  all  see,  how  miserable  he  is 
making  himself  about  empty  fancies  and  phantoms  in 
the  air.  Depend  upon  it,  Gaspard  is  not  likely  to  do  him 
any  good  in  these  respects.  Now  it  is  your  duty, 
surely,  to  strain  every  eff"ort  to  counteract  any  evil  that 
may  be  done." 

"  But  how  can  1 1 — how  can  I,  my  dear  young  gentle- 
man 1"  cried  the  old  man :  "  I  dare  not  speak  to  my  lord 
on  such  subjects,  unless  he  speaks  to  me." 

*'  A  few  words  well  applied  often  do  a  great  deal," 


112  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

replied  I.  "  If  the  duke  hears  his  lady  cried  up  by  all 
his  oldest  and  best  servants  and  friends  as  what  she 
really  is — all  that  is  good  and  virtuous — he  will  soon 
learn  to  think  so  too  ;  and  you  may  find  many  an  oppor- 
tunity of  saying  such  words  as,  '  so  good  a  lady  as  mad- 
ame,' — '  so  virtuous  a  lady  as  the  duchess.'  " 

"Well,  well;  I  will  try,  Seigneur  Jean,"  replied  the 
old  man ;  "  and  depend  upon  one  thing, — no  one  shall 
injure  your  interests  with  my  lord  while  old  Jerome 
Laborde  is  in  the  house.  No,  no  ;  I  will  take  care  of 
them." 

"  Oh,  I  know  I  leave  them  in  good  hands,"  I  replied, 
and  ere  we  could  say  more,  the  groom  appeared  to  tell 
me  that  the  horses  were  waiting.  After  receiving  an 
affectionate  embrace  from  the  good  old  major-domo,  I 
ran  down  into  the  court,  and  sprang  upon  my  horse, 
without  any  farther  leave-taking,  as  1  was  not  supposed 
to  know  that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  yet  risen. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Although  I  loved  Monsieur  de  Villardin  sincerely, 
and  left  my  interest  in  his  heart  in  a  very  precarious 
state,  yet  I  acknowledge  that  I  was  delighted  to  ride 
away  from  the  Pres  Vallee,  Ever  since  the  death  of 
Monsieur  de  Mesnil,  a  gloom  had  fallen  over  the  place, 
of  which  I  could  not  divest  it  for  a  moment.  These 
sensations  would  probably  have  worn  away  in  a  few 
days,  although  1  began  to  think  more  seriously  about 
human  life  than  I  formerly  did,  had  not  Monsieur  de 
Villardin  seemed  to  feel  so  deeply  upon  the  subject  him- 
self. His  regret  and  melancholy  were  a  constant  ex- 
citement to  my  own ;  and  though,  of  course,  the  feel- 
ings that  I  experienced  were  far  less  poignant  than  his, 
and  no  other  internal  torment  was  added  to  the  awful 
memories  which  oppressed  me  ;  yet  the  cloud  that  over- 
cast his  days  shadowed  mine  also  ;  and  the  sight  of  all 
the  little  traits  which  revealed  how  painfully  he  remem- 
bered the  death  of  the  count,  constantly  recalled  to  my 
mind  the  share  that  I  also  had  taken  therein. 

Besides  this,  my  mind  was  fretted  and  annoyed  at  be- 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  113 

holding  continually  the  anxieties,  suspicions,  and  cares, 
to  which  Monsieur  de  Villardin  made  himself  a  prey  ; 
the  destruction  of  an  amiable  woman's  happiness,  and 
the  misery  of  a  man  I  loved.  I  have  said  fretted  and 
annoyed,  because  latterly  a  degree  of  impatience,  which 
sometimes  almost  mastered  my  respect,  had  mingled 
with  the  grief  that  the  sight  of  such  a  state  of  things 
had  first  occasioned  in  my  bosom.  From  all  these 
causes,  my  feelings,  instead  of  being  painful,  were  joy- 
ful in  a  high  degree,  on  quitting  the  scenes  which,  a 
few  months  before,  had  appeared  to  me  so  beautiful  and 
peaceful  that  I  had  fancied  1  could  dwell  in  them  for  ever ; 
and  each  mile  as  I  rode  on  seemed  to  take  more  and 
more  of  the  load  from  off  my  heart. 

It  was  the  morning  of  a  bright  and  beautiful  day  in 
spring;  and  as  I  suppose  that  there  are  few  people  who 
do  not  feel  themselves  happier  when  the  aspect  of  the 
world  is  cheerful  around  them,  the  pleasure  I  experi- 
enced in  getting  away  from  scenes  of  discomfort  and 
pain  was  augmented  by  the  warm  sunshine  and  the  clear 
sky.  The  thirst  of  novelty,  too,  still  fresh  upon  me, 
made  me  feel  dehghted  with  the  journey ;  and  the  hope 
that  this  change  in  our  dwelling  would  ultimately  lead 
to  a  change  in  the  general  chain  of  events,  had  no  small 
share  in  the  joy  with  which  I  set  out.  The  truth  was, 
that  though  I  had  certainly  met  with  a  sufficient  stock 
of  adventures  since  I  had  lived  with  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin to  occupy  my  time  abundantly,  yet  they  had  not 
been  (if  I  except  those  which  occurred  during  the  first 
few  weeks)  of  a  kind  that  at  all  suited  my  disposition. 
Enterprise  of  almost  any  sort  I  liked  and  enjoyed ;  but 
the  excitement  which  I  had  lately  felt  was  of  a  gloomy 
and  sombre  character,  which  saddened  without  satisfy- 
ing,— oppressed,  but  did  not  please  me.  Now,  however, 
I  anticipated  other  scenes  and  other  pleasures ;  and 
though  in  truth  I  had  not  the  slightest  reason  to  suppose 
that  any  alteration  would  really  take  place,  yet  fancy 
can  always  supply  abundance  of  materials  for  the  archi- 
tecture of  hope  ;  and  as  I  journeyed  on,  I  gave  imagina- 
tion full  scope  to  work  her  will,  in  building  up  gay  edi- 
fices in  the  distant  prospect. 

Nothing  occurred  to  amuse  or  interest  me  in  the 
course  of  my  journey  except  the  simple  change  of  sce- 
nery ;  but  as  the  country  through  which  we  passed  was 
very  beautiful,  and  the  season  one  which  shows  off  the 


114  THE    ADVENTURES   OF 

loveliness  of  nature  to  the  greatest  advantage,  what 
between  fair  objects  flitting  before  my  eyes  as  I  rode 
along,  and  gay  dreams  rising  up  in  my  own  bosom,  the 
road  did  not  seem  long,  nor  the  time  tedious.  It  was 
night  when  we  reached  the  Chateau  of  Dumont ;  and  as 
the  gossip  of  the  one  chateau  had  been,  of  course,  regu- 
larly transmitted  to  the  other,  by  the  servants  and  mes- 
sengers that  were  continually  passing  to  and  fro  between 
them,  I  found  that  the  two  or  three  domestics  by  whom 
the  house  was  at  this  time  tenanted  were  prepared  to 
receive  me  with  every  sort  of  deference  and  respect, 
having  heard  that  I  was  an  especial  favourite  with  their 
lord,  and  that  he  had  declared  he  regarded  me  as  his 
own  son. 

The  next  morning,  at  breakfast,  I  was  visited  by  the 
intendant,  and  delivered  to  him  the  letters  with  which  I 
was  charged,  and  which  he  proceeded  to  read  in  my 
presence.  After  asking  me  some  explanations  in  regard 
to  the  duke's  will,  on  two  or  three  points  which  did  not 
appear  very  clear  to  him,  he  added,  "  Here  is  one  letter, 
monsieur,  referring  to  yourself  alone,  and,  as  I  suppose 
you  are  well  acquainted  with  the  contents,  I  have  only 
to  say,  that  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  accompany  you  im- 
mediately." 

I  assured  him,  in  reply,  that  I  was  perfectly  ignorant 
of  his  meaning,  as  1  had  not  been  before  aware  that  his 
lord  had  written  any  thing  concerning  me  at  all. 

"  The  duke  orders  me  here,"  said  the  intendant,  in 
reply,  laying  before  me  the  letter  he  had  just  opened, 
"  to  put  you  in  possession  of  the  lands  and  houses  of 
Juvigny,  which,  he  says,  he  ceded  to  you  by  a  deed  of 
gift,  about  two  months  ago.  If,  therefore,  you  are  in- 
clined to  take  possession  this  morning,  I  shall  have  much 
pleasure  in  walking  down  with  you,  and  formally  making 
over  to  you  the  lands,  as  well  as  pointing  out  the  bound- 
aries of  the  farm  and  the  dependances  thereunto 
attached." 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  so  young  and  new  a  pro- 
prietor as  myself  would  be  very  unwilling  to  see  and 
take  possession  of  the  first  property  he  ever  had  in  his 
life  ;  and  thanking  the  intendant,  whom  I  began  to  look 
upon  as  a  very  civil  person  indeed,  I  willingly  agreed  to 
accompany  him  to  my  territory  of  Juvigny.  As  the 
place  itself  and  the  road  that  conducted  thither  are 
memorable  in  my  little  history,  on  many  accounts,  I 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  115 

must  be  permitted  to  describe  that  morning's  walk,  step 
by  step,  as  we  proceeded. 

We  set  out,  then,  about  half-past  nine,  and  took  our 
way  across  a  broad  terrace,  which  extended  in  front  of 
the  chateau,  and  which,  at  either  extremity,  sloped  away 
into  a  fine  road,  broad  enough  for  either  horses  or  car- 
riages, in  front,  however,  it  was  supported  by  a  per- 
pendicular stone  facing  of  about  six  feet  high,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  lay  an  extensive  flower-garden,  reached 
by  a  wide  flight  of  ten  steps ;  and  beyond  the  garden, 
again,  extended  a  fine  park,  laid  out  in  walks  and  alleys, 
containing  about  three  square  miles  of  ground,  on  either 
side  of  a  deep  and  rapid  river,  which,  passing  between 
high  banks,  took  its  way  through  the  midst  of  the  estate 
towards  the  sea,  at  which  it  arrived  without  mingling 
its  waters  with  any  other  stream.  Across  this  river 
the  various  paths,  with  which  the  park  was  intersected, 
were  carried  over  a  number  of  bridges,  built  in  very 
good  taste,  some  of  stone  and  some  of  wood,  as  the 
character  of  the  scene  immediately  around  seemed  to 
require.  Over  one  of  these,  which  consisted  of  a  light 
wooden  arch,  the  intendant  and  myself  took  our  way, 
after  having  passed  through  the  flower-garden  and  a 
considerable  part  of  the  park.  This  direction,  I  found, 
was  followed  in  order  to  cut  across  a  bend  in  the  river  ; 
for,  after  issuing  forth  through  a  postern  door  into  the 
country  beyond  the  park,  we  again  crossed  the  stream 
by  another  bridge,  and  proceeded  along  its  course,  pur- 
suing a  path  which  wound  in  and  out  through  a  scene 
of  mingled  rock  and  wood  as  wild  and  varied  as  ever  I 
beheld. 

As  we  proceeded  along  this  road,  which  we  followed 
for  about  half  a  mile,  the  intendant  informed  me  that 
the  little  farm  of  which  I  was  now  the  master  had 
been  bought  by  Monsieur  de  Villardin  on  the  death  of 
the  last  proprietor,  lest  it  should  at  any  time  fall  into 
the  hands  of  people  who  might  render  its  proximity  to 
his  park  an  annoyance  to  him.  We  soon  after  reached 
our  boundary,  and,  having  called  at  the  Metairie,  where 
I  was  formally  introduced  to  the  farmer  and  put  in  pos- 
session of  my  new  property,  we  went  round  the  limits, 
which  were  much  more  extensive  than  I  had  expected, 
and  returned  by  the  dwelHng-house  of  the  old  lords  of 
Juvigny,  which  consisted  of  a  small  feudal  tower,  with 
modern  oflices  on  the  same  scale,  perched  upon  a  high 


116  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

bank  overhanging  the  water,  and  commanding  a  beautiful 
prospect  down  the  valley  through  which  the  river  wan- 
dered. 

While  the  intendant  was  busy  opening  the  door, 
which,  from  having  had  entirely  its  own  way  for  several 
years,  seemed  very  unwilling  to  give  admission  to  a 
new  lord,  I  asked  the  good  farmer,  who  had  followed  us 
on  our  round,  what  was  the  extensive  gray  building 
which  I  observed  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  farther 
down  on  the  other  bank  of  the  stream.  He  replied,  in 
a  patois  which  I  could  scarcely  make  out,  that  it  was  a 
convent  of  Ursuline  nuns,  to  whom  a  great  part  of 
the  ground  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  belonged. 

I  answered,  that  I  was  glad  to  hear  that  I  was  to  have 
such  good  neighbours  ;  and  following  the  intendant,  who 
had  by  this  time  opened  the  door,  1  was  inducted  into 
my  house,  which  afforded  a  much  greater  promise  of 
warmth  and  comfort  in  the  inside,  than  had  been  given 
by  its  external  appearance. 

The  worthy  intendant  showed  me  over  every  part  of 
it ;  and  when  he  had  done,  he  added, "  You  have  now  seen 
the  whole  of  the  estate,  sir,  which  being — as  I  under- 
stand the  duke — conferred  upon  you  in  full,  gives  you 
every  seigneural  privilege,  comprising  droits  de  moulin, 
et  de  colombier,  d'eau,  et  de  four." 

As  I  turned  away  quite  satisfied  with  all  these  fine 
rights,  of  mill  and  dove-cot,  water  and  oven,  I  observed 
a  slight  smile  pass  between  the  intendant  and  the  farmer ; 
and  as  I  did  not  affect  to  observe  it,  the  honest  country- 
man explained  it  by  a  question  which  he  asked  my  com- 
panion in  one  of  those  horse  whispers  which  may  be 
heard  distinctly  at  a  mile. 

"  Is  he  a  boy  really,"  asked  the  farmer,  grinning,  "or 
a  little  man  T"  The  intendant  made  no  reply,  but  en- 
joined silence  by  holding  up  one  of  his  fingers ;  and, 
walking  gravely  after  me,  showed  me  the  same  defer- 
ential aspect  which  he  had  formerly  put  on,  and  at  which 
I  could  plainly  see  he  had  been  laughing  in  his  sleeve. 
I  was  nettled  a  good  deal,  I  confess  ;  for  though  I  did 
not,  in  truth,  feel  myself  at  all  what  the  world  calls  a 
boy,  I  had  not  the  slightest  wish  to  assume  any  station 
but  that  which  was  my  due.  At  the  same  time,  I  am 
well  aware,  and  was  so  even  at  the  time,  that  the  habit 
of  mingling  with  mankind,  and  the  fact  of  having  passed 
all  my  early  years  in  gathering  knowledge  of  the  world 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  117 

instead  of  poring  over  grammars  and  dictionaries,  had 
given  a  sort  of  decision  and  promptitude  to  my  manners, 
which,  coupled  with  my  juvenile  appearance,  might  well 
win  for  me  the  character  of  a  conceited  little  fellow  from 
those  who  saw  no  farther.  However,  as  I  have  said,  I 
was  nettled  at  finding  that  the  respect  with  which 
the  intendant  had  been  treating  me,  and  which  was 
rather  suspicious  from  its  profoundness,  was  nothing 
but  mockery ;  and  had  any  occasion  for  venting  my  irri* 
tation  occurred  at  the  time,  I  might  have  done  so  with 
a  vehemence  which  most  probably  would  have  amused 
him  and  rendered  myself  ridiculous.  A  little  reflection, 
as  we  walked  on,  took  the  anger,  and  consequently  the 
absurdity,  out  of  my  feelings  ;  and,  remembering  that  it 
was  very  likely  that  the  worthy  intendant  might  attempt 
to  treat  me  as  a  conceited  boy  in  money  matters  also,  I 
resolved  to  show  him  that  I  was  fully  aware  of  my  own 
situation. 

"  Of  course,  Monsieur  I'lntendant,"  said  I,  as  we 
again  entered  the  park,  "  you  will  continue  to  receive 
the  rents  of  the  farm,  and  pay  them  into  the  hands  of 
Monsieur  de  Villardin ;  for  though  he  has  been  kind 
enough  to  bestow  it  upon  me,  I  am  well  aware  that  my 
youth  and  inexperience  of  such  matters  utterly  incapa- 
citate me  to  manage  it  myself.  1  know,  too,  that,  as  a 
foreigner,  I  cannot  exercise  any  of  the  rights  you  men- 
tioned just  now,  without  higher  permission,  which,  how- 
ever, the  duke  has  already  promised  to  solicit  for  me  ; 
and,  doubtless,  it  will  be  granted  long  before  I  am  quali- 
fied by  age  to  make  use  of  it." 

The  intendant  opened  his  eyes  half  an  inch  wider  at 
a  discourse  which,  I  am  sure,  he  did  not  expect ;  and, 
as  I  thought  over  the  business,  I  proceeded : — "  One 
thing,  however,  1  will  ask  you  on  my  own  account ; 
which  is,  to  seek  me  out  a  good  tenant  for  the  house, 
and  the  field  in  which  it  stands ;  as  the  one  is  overgrown 
with  weeds,  and  the  other  is  very  likely  to  get  out  of 
repair.  But,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  tenant  should  be  one  who  is  agreeable  to  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin.  If  you  can  find  such  a  person  as  I 
describe,  who  willbe  attentive  to  and  careful  of  the  place 
in  which  he  dwells,  the  advantage  of  having  the  house 
kept  from  dilapidation  will,  of  course,  induce  you  to  let 
him  have  the  dwelling  for  a  certain  time  without  rent, 
and  the  land  at  the  lowest  value  of  the  ground." 


118  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

Whether  the  intendant  did  or  did  not  conceive  a  better 
opinion  of  me  from  this  discourse,  I  can  hardly  tell ;  for 
he  was  one  of  those  men,  so  often  met  with,  who,  with 
an  air  of  profound  respect,  have  at  the  same  time  a  slight 
smile  hanging  ever  about  the  corners  of  their  mouths, 
which  casts  a  sneering  expression  over  their  whole 
countenance.  I  gave  myself  very  little  farther  care  upon 
the  subject,  indeed ;  for  though  the  people  on  whom 
nature  or  habit  has  inflicted  such  a  look  are  always 
hated — because,  without  having  a  pretext  for  resenting 
it,  we  perceive  that  they  are  insulting  us  in  their  own 
hearts — yet  he  was  always  civil,  and  never  afforded  me 
the  shghtest  pretence  for  anger,  either  by  his  demeanour 
or  his  actions.  It  was  therefore,  of  course,  my  wisest 
policy  to  think  as  little  as  possible  of  what  I  could  not 
remedy. 

At  the  end  of  a  week.  Monsieur  de  Villardin  and  the 
whole  household  made  their  appearance  ;  and  the  bustle 
of  taking  possession  of  their  new  abode  concealed  for 
the  first  day  any  changes  that  had  occurred.  When  all 
the  arrangements  were  over,  however,  I  began  to  see  a 
marked  and  unpleasant  difference.  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin was  something  more  than  grave  and  gloomy  ;  he 
was  abstracted,  and  at  times  fierce  ;  and  it  was  evident 
that  the  internal  irritation  of  his  feelings  made  him  per- 
ceive subject  of  offence  in  things  the  most  simple  and 
harmless. 

To  me,  he  was  certainly  as  kind  as  he  could  be ;  but  still 
there  was  a  difference  there  also.  He  often  spoke  to 
me  gently,  even  affectionately,  of  my  circumstances  and 
my  future  prospects  ;  treated  me  in  most  respects  as 
his  son;  made  me  dine  with  himself  and  Madame  de  Vil- 
lardin ;  but  he  never  referred  to  the  events  which  had 
taken  place  at  the  Pres  Vallee.  I  saw,  too,  that,  on  the 
excuse  of  not  looking  upon  me  any  longer  in  the  light 
of  a  page,  but  rather  as  one  of  his  own  family,  the  famil- 
iar intercourse  which  I  had  held  with  him  was  in  a 
great  degree  denied  to  myself  and  permitted  to  another  ; 
and  that  Gaspard  de  Belleville  was  closeted  with  him 
for  hours  every  day.  Of  course,  this  did  not  please  me  ; 
for  although  I  trusted  to  my  own  conduct  to  maintain  the 
good  opinion  of  the  duke,  yet,  with  the  common  weak- 
ness of  human  nature,  I  did  not  like  that  his  confidence 
should  be  given  to  another,  though  it  had  often  been 
painful  to  myself.   I  knew  very  well  that  my  behaviour, 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  119 

though  it  might  not  have  gratified  his  jealousy  by  admit- 
ting suspicions  I  believed  to  be  false,  would  command 
his  esteeem  more  than  that  of  Gaspard,  who,  probably, 
was  more  complacent — but  who  is  there  so  strong  and 
philosophic  in  heart,  as  to  value  esteem  more  than  affec- 
tion 1  I  saw  clearly,  and  I  saw  it  with  regret,  that  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin's  love  was  likely  to  be  given  to  him 
who  pampered  the  weakness  under  which  he  laboured, 
rather  than  to  him  who  tried  to  clear  away  suspicions, 
which,  however  detrimental  to  himself,  were  too  firmly 
rooted  to  be  eradicated  without  pain. 

As  some  compensation,  however,  I  found  that  my 
place  in  the  regard  of  the  duchess  was  becoming  higher 
each  day :  and  as  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  on  his  arrival 
at  Dumont,  had  desired  me  to  attend  upon  her  in  her 
walks  and  drives,  not  as  a  page,  but  as  her  companion, 
— I  was  but  fourteen,  be  it  remembered, — and  as  her 
guard  in  case  of  danger,  I  had  continually  the  means 
of  cultivating  her  good  opinion.  Her  spirits  by  this 
time  were  so  depressed,  that  all  the  gay  levity  of  man- 
ner which  I  had  formerly  remarked,  was  gone ;  and 
grave,  sad,  and  thoughtful,  she  took  her  daily  walk 
through  the  park,  accompanied  by  myself  and  her  little 
girl ;  sometimes  endeavouring  to  amuse  herself  by  talk- 
ing to  me  of  England,  and  of  the  scenes  that  I  had  gone 
through — sometimes  moved  to  a  smile  at  my  boyish 
pranks  with  the  beautiful  child  that  ran  on  beside  us — 
but  still  relapsing  into  melancholy  the  moment  that  the 
evanescent  light  was  gone.  Never  by  any  chance  did  she 
refer  to  her  husband's  behaviour  towards  her ;  though 
once,  when  she  seemed  more  than  usually  depressed, 
her  words  and  her  manner  made  me  think  she  was  going 
to  do  so. 

"  You  have  greatly  won  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  con- 
fidence and  esteem,"  she  said,  after  some  previous  con- 
versation during  one  of  our  walks ;  "  and  I  very  well 
perceive  that  hereafter  that  esteem  will  be  much  in- 
creased. Now,  Monsieur  Hall,"  she  proceeded,  speak- 
ing with  a  considerable  degree  of  emotion,  "  I  have  a 
favour  to  ask  you,  and  a  promise  to  exact  from  you. 
Of  course,  no  woman  in  my  situation  can  count  upon 
life  for  more  than  three  or  four  months,  with  any  degree 
of  confidence.  Should  I  die,  then,  in  the  course  of  the 
event  which  is  to  befall  me, — which  I  think  more  than 
probable, — as  you  will  grow  up  to  manhood  with  my 


120  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

children,  and  possess  their  father's  confidence,  will  you 
promise  me  to  be  to  them  as  a  brother,  to  defend  them 
with  your  whole  heart  and  strength,  by  hand  and  voice, 
against  any  one  that  would  wrong  them  ;  and  never  to 
forget  to  uphold  their  cause  whenever  you  hear  them 
assailed  1  Will  you  promise  me  this,  upon  your  word 
of  honour,  as  a  loyal  Englishman  and  the  son  of  a  good 
soldier?" 

"  That  I  will,  madam,  and  that  I  do,"  replied  I :  "  even 
had  you  not  asked  it,  I  would  have  done  so.  But  I  now 
bind  myself  by  every  thing  I  hold  dear,  in  case — among 
the  many  changes  of  the  world,  which  have  laid  my 
own  hearth  desolate,  and  given  my  father's  house  to 
strangers — they  should  ever  require  such  weak  aid  as 
mine,  I  will  give  it  to  them  with  my  whole  heart  and 
soul,  and  show  as  much  zeal  in  their  cause  as  if  I  were 
their  brother," 

I  purposely  made  my  promise  as  strong  in  point  of 
language  as  I  could  devise,  because  I  clearly  saw,  by 
the  agitation  of  the  duchess  while  she  spoke,  that  her 
husband's  late  conduct  towards  herself  had  excited  in 
her  bosom  many  a  fearful  apprehension  in  regard  to  the 
fate  of  her  children.  Hope,  I  have  heard,  will  catch  at 
straws ;  and  certainly — though  in  the  wide  range  of 
probability  it  was  possible  I  might  ultimately  be  able  to 
render  the  services  she  required — there  appeared  but 
little  likelihood  of  my  assistance  being  of  much  avail : 
yet  nevertheless  my  zealous  promise  seemed  to  reheve 
her  mind  greatly ;  and,  as  I  made  it,  I  saw  the  tears, 
which  had  been  crowding  to  the  gates  of  her  eyes  while 
she  herself  had  spoken,  now  burst  forth  and  roll  over 
her  cheeks. 

"  Thank  you,  thank  you !"  she  replied  :  "  I  know  that 
your  promise  will  not  be  forgotten,  and  therefore  I  shall 
never  mention  the  subject  to  you  again,  but  rely  in  all 
confidence  upon  your  word :"  and  so  saying,  she  led  the 
way  back  towards  the  chateau. 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  121 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  FORTNIGHT,  or  rather  more,  passed  away  in  this 
unpleasant  state ;  and  I  found  that  time,  which  recon- 
ciles one  to  most  things,  had  not  that  effect  at  all  in 
making  me  endure  patiently  the  transfer  of  the  duke's 
confidence  to  Gaspard  de  Belleville.  Had  he  been, 
indeed,  a  person  who  deserved  that  confidence,  or  who 
would  not  abuse  it,  although  my  vanity  might  have  been 
as  much  pained,  my  reason  would  not  have  supported 
me  in  murmuring,  nor  would  my  affection  for  my  lord 
himself  have  given  additional  pain  to  my  personal  mor- 
tification. As  it  was,  however,  I  felt  convinced,  from 
what  I  knew  of  that  youth's  disposition,  that  he  would 
not  only  do  nothing  to  cure  Monsieur  de  Villardin  of 
his  morbid  suspicions,  but  that,  both  for  the  sake  of 
maintaining  his  place  in  his  master's  favour,  and  of  an- 
noying me,  he  would  do  all  that  he  could  to  foster  any 
feelings  which  he  might  find  out  that  I  had  opposed. 
When  these  thoughts  came  across  my  mind — not  being 
of  the  most  patient  temper  in  the  world,  nor  particu- 
larly scrupulous  as  to  the  means  of  gratifying  it — I 
more  than  once  thought  of  throwing  my  adversary  over 
the  bridge  into  the  river  ;  and  as  I  had  never  yet  done 
any  thing  of  the  kind  in  my  own  private  cause,  though 
I  had  committed  many  a  doubtful  act  in  the  cause  of 
others,  I  endeavoured  to  reason  myself  into  believing 
that  such  a  proceeding  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
peace  of  Monsieur  and  Madame  de  Villardin.  This 
passed  through  my  thoughts  more  than  once,  I  acknow- 
ledge ;  and  I  imagined — if  done  fairly  in  single  combat, 
strength  against  strength,  without  any  surprise  or  feint 
on  my  part,  and  with  full  warning  received  by  him — that 
the  act  I  contemplated  would  be  fully  as  justifiable  as 
any  duel  that  ever  was  fought.  He,  indeed,  had  the 
advantage  of  age,  being  certainly  two  years  older  than 
myself;  though  now,  having  grown  considerably  in  the 
air  of  Brittany,  I  was  as  tall  as  he  Was,  and  nearly  as 
muscular. 

What  all  this  would  have  ended  in,  Heaven  only 

Vol.  I.— F 


122  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

knows ;  and  I  am  almost  afraid  to  calculate  now  what 
would  have  been  the  probable  result ;  but  two  circum- 
stances took  place  soon  after  my  conversation  with  the 
duchess,  which  I  have  detailed  in  the  end  of  the  last 
chapter,  which  put  an  end  to  all  further  thoughts  upon 
the  subject.  The  first  was  the  arrival  of  a  personage, 
who,  on  many  points,  changed  all  my  ideas  and  opinions, 
gave  me  a  new  view  of  my  duties,  and  both  enlarged 
and  purified  my  mind.  The  second  was  an  accident 
which  suddenly  gave  me  a  higher  place  than  ever  in  the 
affection  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  and  established  a 
link  of  connexion  between  his  heart  and  mine  that 
neither  years  nor  circumstances  could  ever  break. 

Let  me  speak  of  the  events  which  followed,  however, 
in  the  order  in  which  they  occurred. — Of  old  Jerome 
Laborde  I  had  seen  a  good  deal  since  his  arrival  from 
the  Pres  Vallee  ;  and,  although  he  could  give  me  no 
information  as  to  the  result  of  the  conferences  held 
between  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  his  page,  and  the  sou- 
brette,  he  did  not  fail  to  point  out  that  the  change  which 
had  taken  place  was  an  evil  one,  and  that  all  happiness 
was  banished  from  our  dwelling.  The  only  thing,  he 
said,  which  would  ever  restore  it,  would  be  the  coming 
of  good  Pere  Ferdinand,  his  lord's  confessor,  who  had 
more  influence  over  his  mind  than  any  one,  and  who 
had  promised  to  come  over  and  stay  at  Dumont  for 
some  time.  I  had  caught  a  passing  sight  of  the  con- 
fessor more  than  once  at  the  Pres  Vallee  ;  and  both 
from  something  prepossessing  in  his  demeanour,  and 
from  the  effect  which  his  exhortations  had  produced 
upon  Monsieur  de  Villardin  on  a  former  occasion,  I 
argued  in  the  same  manner  as  good  Jerome  Laborde  in 
regard  to  his  next  visit. 

Various  circumstances  detained  him,  it  appears,  at 
Rennes,  for  several  days  after  this  conversation ;  and 
the  next  time  1  saw  the  good  major-domo  was  one  day 
when,  on  suddenly  entering  the  saloon,  I  found  him 
speaking  with  the  duke,  and,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  in  an 
attitude  of  entreaty.  I  was  about  to  draw  back  ;  but 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  beckoned  me  forward,  saying, 
"  Come  in.  Seigneur  Jean,''' — the  name  by  which  he 
usually  called  me  when  in  his  milder  mood, — "  come  in ! 
Here  is  Jerome  pleading  to  me  in  a  matter  which  con- 
cerns you  in  a  twofold  degree.  It  seems  that  you  have 
told  the  intendant  to  seek  you  tenants  for  your  house  at 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  123 

Juvigny,  generously  promising  to  let  them  rest  rent  free 
if  they  will  keep  the  house  in  repair.  Now,  I  find  that 
Jerome  has  a  nephew  who  is  newly  married,  and  who 
wants  a  dwelling,  and  he  applies  to  me  for  my  consent 
to  his  occupying  this  tenement  of  yours.  Are  you  will- 
ing, Seigneur  Jean  ?" 

"  Most  wiUing,  my  lord,"  I  replied,  glad  to  give  the 
old  man  any  testimony  of  my  regard :  "  I  am  sure 
Jerome  would  not  recommend  any  one  who  would  not 
do  full  justice  to  all  intrusted  to  him." 

"  By  my  faith !  I  am  not  so  sure,"  answered  the  duke. 
"  You  know  more  of  this  youth  than  T  do  ;  for  it  seems 
you  saved  him  once  from  the  gallows — a  piece  of 
business  not  very  much  to  the  credit  of  either.  Besides, 
I  may  be  accused,  Jerome,  of  harbouring  convicted 
felons." 

"  But,  ray  lord,  I  can  assure  you,"  answered  the  old 
man,  "  he  has  obtained  grace  and  pardon  of  the  king, 
only  coupled  with  the  condition  that  he  never  sets  foot 
in  Paris  again,  nor  ever  attempts  to  exercise  the  busi- 
ness of  a  printer." 

As  may  well  be  conceived,  I  was  not  a  little  surprised 
to  find  that  my  first  tenant  was  likely  to  be  poor  Jacques 
Marlot ;  still  more  to  hear  that  Jacques  had  taken  unto 
his  bosom  a  wife  ;  and  most  of  all,  to  find  that  a  libel, 
which  attacked  the  person  and  reputation  of  the  queen 
regent  herself,  had  been  pardoned  upon  any  considera- 
tion whatever.  However,  I,  of  course,  joined  my  voice 
to  that  of  good  old  Jerome  Laborde,  who,  to  tell  the 
truth,  promised  and  vowed  a  great  deal  more  on  the  part 
of  his  nephew,  than  I  at  all  imagined  his  nephew  would 
justify,  assuring  the  duke  that  all  his  follies  were  com- 
pletely at  an  end,  and  that  henceforth  he  himself  would 
answer  for  Jacques  Hving  a  sober,  tranquil,  and  peaceful 
life.  Industrious  and  clever  he  always  had  been,  he 
continued  ;  and  as  the  good  ladies  of  St.  Ursula,  the  old 
man  said,  were  going  to  give  him  the  management  of 
their  little  farms,  just  opposite  to  Juvigny,  the  house 
would  come  quite  apropos.  Although  with  some  diffi- 
culty, the  duke  yielded  to  our  solicitations,  but  solely  on 
condition  that  Jacques  produced  to  the  eyes  of  the  in- 
tendant  the  act  of  grace  by  which  he  was  relieved  from 
all  danger  of  the  royal  indignation.  Jerome  willingly 
accepted  of  the  terms  :  and  I  withdrew  with  him,  in 
order  to  hear  more  of  my  worthy  philosopher's  fate,  and 
F2 


124  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

the  adventures  which  had  brought  about  such  a  consum- 
mation as  matrimony  and  the  cultivation  of  the  earth. 

The  major-domo,  however,  could  tell  me  but  little 
more  than  I  had  already  heard.  He  had  received,  he 
said,  a  letter  from  his  nephew  that  morning,  dated  from 
St.  Aubin,  entreating  him  to  make  the  request  he  had  just 
done  to  the  duke,  and  giving  him  satisfactory  assurances 
that  his  pardon  was  really  granted.  How  it  had  been 
obtained,  Jerome  added,  remained  to  be  explained  to 
himself  as  well  as  to  me  ;  but  respecting  the  farm  of  the 
Ursulines,  and  Jacques  Marlot's  knowledge  of  my  plans 
in  regard  to  Juvigny,  an  easy  explanation  was  afforded, 
by  the  fact  of  his  having  just  married  a  niece  of  our  in- 
tendant's ; — "  a  little  against  the  intendant's  stomach,  I 
believe,"  said  the  major-domo  ;  "  but  it  was  an  old  love 
affair,  it  seems,  before  Jacques  went  from  Rennes — 
where  he  was  in  good  business  enough — to  Paris,  where 
he  got  bad  business  enough.  But  I  have  promised  to 
open  my  own  little  store  in  his  favour  ;  so  that  that  af- 
fair is  all  set  right  with  Monsieur  I'lntendant." 

I  now  found  that  Jacques,  with  his  wife  and  other 
moveables,  was  to  take  possession  of  his  new  dwelling, 
if  his  uncle  obtained  it  for  him,  in  a  few  days  ;  and  as  I 
could  afford  to  bridle  my  curiosity  for  the  intervening 
time,  I  left  the  good  major-domo,  and  proceeded  on  my 
other  affairs.  These  were  of  no  great  importance,  and 
suffered  little  from  being  disturbed  ;  but  as  the  old  man's 
own  occupations  were  very  numerous,  and  generally  me- 
thodically arranged  for  all  the  hours  of  the  day,  I  was 
somewhat  surprised  to  see  him  enter  my  chamber 
towards  nightfall,  and  seat  himself  as  if  prepared  for  no 
brief  conversation. 

After  again  thanking  me  for  the  fresh  kindness  I  had 
shown  his  nephew,  he  said,  "  But  it  was  not  on  that 
subject  I  came  to  speak  with  you  just  now.  You  must 
know  that  Pere  Ferdinand  arrived  about  an  hour  ago, 
and  is  even  now  in  conversation  with  my  lord.  You 
will  see  him  at  supper ;  and  doubtless  my  lord  will  in- 
troduce you  to  him,  and  will  tell  him  all  you  have  done. 
But  I  took  the  liberty,  my  son,  of  telling  him  all  before, 
and  also  of  letting  him  know  how  much  you  were  at- 
tached to  my  lord,  and  how  eager  you  were  to  promote 
the  peace  and  happiness  of  all  the  family.  Nay,  more, 
— and  1  hope,  and  am  sure,  that  you  vill  not  think  I  went 
too  far — 1  promised  him  that  you  should  meet  him  this 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  125 

evening,  after  supper,  in  my  apartment,  and  make  his 
acquaintance  more  completely." 

"  Oh  !  I  will  willingly  meet  him,"  replied  1 ;  "  though 
I  suppose  we  shall  have  plenty  of  opportunities  of 
making  acquaintance  during  his  stay  in  the  chateau, 
without  any  appearance  of  secrecy." 

"  It  need  be  no  secret,  my  son,"  answered  the  major- 
domo  ;  "  and  in  regard  to  your  making  acquaintance 
with  him  afterward,  that  would  depend  entirely  upon 
circumstances ;  for  he  does  not  seem  at  all  assured  of 
staying  even  over  to-morrow,  till  the  conversation  he 
is  now  holding  with  the  duke  is  at  an  end.  I  merely 
wish  you  to  see  him,  because  1  think,  that,  using  both 
your  efforts,  you  may  do  away  much  that  is  amiss  in 
the  house,  and  also  because  I  am  sure  you  will  love  and 
esteem  him  ;  for  there  never  was  a  better  man." 

As  old  Jerome  had  anticipated,  on  entering  the  salle 
a  manger,  at  the  hour  of  supper,  1  found  the  duke  stand- 
ing with  the  confessor,  to  whom  he  instantly  introduced 
me,  saying,  "  Father  Ferdinand,  this  is  the  young  Eng- 
lishman I  mentioned,  whom  1  look  upon — if  not  as  my 
own  son,  since  such  a  feeling  is,  perhaps,  impossible — 
at  least  as  the  son  of  a  dear  brother,  and  treat  accord- 
ingly." 

The  confessor  took  my  hand,  and  looked  at  me  with 
a  smile  full  of  benignity,  saying,  "  We  must  be  friends, 
my  son ;  I  hear  a  high  character  of  you  from  all 
quarters." 

I  expressed,  as  well  as  I  could,  my  willingness  to 
meet  his  kindness ;  and  as  the  duchess  was  not  well 
enough  to  appear  that  evening,  we  sat  down  to  supper 
alone.  I  remarked  that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  was 
more  calm,  though  not  less  grave  than  he  had  seemed 
of  late ;  but  it  was  the  person  and  demeanour  of  the 
priest  that  principally  engaged  my  attention. 

He  was  a  man  considerably  past  the  prime  of  life  ; 
and  though  his  frame  was  neither  bent  nor  broken  by 
the  weight  of  years,  yet  his  age  was  to  be  traced  in  his 
thin  white  hair,  and  in  many  a  long  deep  furrow  on  his 
brow  and  cheek.  His  eye,  however,  was  bright  and 
clear ;  and  his  teeth  of  as  white  an  ivory  as  ever  ap- 
peared between  the  lips  of  youthful  beauty.  He  was 
thin  and  pale,  but  his  complexion  was  clear,  and  proba- 
bly had  never  been  red ;  and  his  form  which  was  tall, 
was  also  upright  and  graceful,  and  in  no  degree  stiff. 


126  THE   ADTENTURES    OF 

His  robes,  too,  sat  well  upon  him ;  which  is  always  a 
sign  of  a  lofty  education  or  of  a  fine  mind  ;  for  no  one 
can  feel  himself  perfectly  at  his  ease,  in  all  his  move- 
ments, without  possessing  the  one,  or  having  received 
the  other.  With  Monsieur  de  Villardin  the  confessor 
spoke  as  equal  to  equal ;  and  though,  from  his  demean- 
our, I  might,  perhaps,,  as  a  first  impression,  have  in- 
ferred that  he  was  one  of  those  priests  who  so  fre- 
quently govern,  with  absolute  sway,  the  little  kingdom 
of  a  private  family,  yet  he  was  evidently  not  one  of  those 
who  would  truckle  to  the  prejudices,  or  give  indulgence 
to  the  errors  of  any  one  in  whose  dwelling  he  was  es- 
tablished. There  was  in  his  whole  conversation  a  tone 
of  bold  independence,  mingling  with  the  tenderness  of 
his  manner,  which  took  away  from  it  the  slightest  ap- 
pearance of  subserviency,  and  made  me  feel  that,  in 
giving  him  the  title  of  father,  one  only  addressed  him 
by  a  name  which  he  believed  himself  to  deserve. 

After  supper  I  again  retired,  and,  as  I  had  promised, 
took  my  way  to  the  apartments  of  the  good  major-domo, 
where  the  priest  soon  after  made  his  appearance,  and 
spoke  with  me  for  some  time,  kindly  and  frankly,  upon 
a  variety  of  indifferent  subjects.  He  was  evidently  de- 
lighted to  hear  that  my  mother  had  been  a  Catholic,  and 
that  I  had  been  originally  brought  up  in  that  faith  ;  but 
he  pressed  the  subject  no  further  upon  me,  and  I  saw 
that  he  skilfully  avoided  saying  one  word  that  might 
make  me  suspicious  of  any  design  on  his  part,  either  to 
force  himself  into  my  own  confidence,  or  to  wring  from 
me  the  secrets  of  others.  Gradually,  however,  he 
brought  the  conversation  round  to  the  subject  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin,  and  spoke  with  deep,  and,  certainly, 
sincere  regret,  of  the  state  to  which  the  duke  appeared 
to  have  brought  himself.  He  asked  me  no  questions, 
however ;  but  on  my  expressing  equal  pain  at  the  fact, 
he  only  replied,  by  exhorting  me  to  strive,  by  every 
means  in  my  power,  to  remove  the  poison  from  my 
friend's  mind.  I  willingly  promised  to  continue  all  my 
efforts,  and  our  conference  thus  ended. 

After  what  I  have  just  said,  it  may  seem  extraordinary 
that  my  first  impression  of  Father  Ferdinand  was  not 
favourable.  On  retiring  to  my  own  chamber,  I  sat 
down  to  meditate  over  the  character  of  the  confessor, 
and,  as  usual,  formed  my  judgment  very  rapidly.  I  was 
wrong,  however — entirely  wrong ;  for  as  yet  I  had  only 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  127 

allowed  myself  to  remark  the  worst — I  may  say,  the 
sole  bad  trait  in  Father  Ferdinand's  nature.  On  it, 
with  the  keenness  which  had  been  taught  me  from  my 
youth,  1  pounced  like  a  tiger,  and  resolved  to  be  as  wary 
as  possible  to  guard  myself  against  its  effects.  This 
evil  spot,  which  I  short-sightedly  conceived  to  over- 
spread the  whole  surface  of  his  heart,  though,  indeed,  it 
was  but  a  small  blemish  therein,  was  a  slight  touch  of 
that  subtlety  for  which  our  priests  are  rather  famous : 
but  I  must  pause  for  a  moment,  to  define  exactly  its  real 
limits,  lest  those  who  may  read  this  writing  fall  into  a 
like  error  with  myself. 

It  was  certainly  a  part  of  Father  Ferdinand's  doctrine, 
that,  in  churchmen,  the  end  justified  the  means,  pro- 
vided that  the  means  were  not  absolutely  immoral. 
Thus  things  that,  under  any  other  circumstances,  he 
himself  would  have  considered  meannesses,  lost  that 
character  in  his  eyes  when  they  were  employed  to  efi'ect 
some  good  purpose ;  and  art,  duplicity,  and  cunning, 
used  either  in  extracting  the  truth  from  others,  or  in 
guiding  them,  even  against  their  will,  upon  the  path  he 
thought  it  right  for  them  to  follow,  seemed  to  him  not 
only  admissible,  but  praiseworthy,  in  a  priest.  He 
stopped  there,  however,  saying  that  no  clergyman  had 
a  right  to  go  farther ;  and  that  if,  upon  the  pretence  of 
guiding  others,  he  did  one  act  that  was  really  sinful,  the 
sin  rested  on  himself,  aggravated  rather  than  palliated 
by  the  motive,  masmuch  as  it  was  insulting  God  to 
suppose  that  he  could  be  served  by  sin. 

On  these  principles  he  made  the  character  of  all  those 
with  whom  he  was  brought  in  contact  his  most  minute 
study  ;  employed  every  method  of  obtaining  information 
concerning  them,  even  to  questioning  their  servants  and 
their  friends  ;  and,  having  done  so,  proceeded,  step  by 
step,  to  establish  his  own  influence  over  their  minds, 
which  it  was  only  owing  to  the  goodness  of  his  own 
heart,  and  the  natural  rectitude  of  his  judgment,  that  he 
employed  to  their  advantage  and  their  peace.  At  first, 
however,  he  proceeded  cautiously ;  suffered  the  traits 
of  their  hearts  to  develop  themselves  before  his  eyes  ; 
shocked  none  of  their  prejudices  ;  rudely  assailed  none 
of  their  opinions  till  such  time  as  he  found  himself  se- 
cure of  his  power  over  their  minds  ;  but  then,  certainly, 
with  an  eloquence  which  I  have  never  heard  excelled, 
and  a  fervour  rarely  equalled,  he  would  combat  their 


128  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

errors,  oppose  their  vices  ;  and,  once  having  begun  the 
strife,  would  throw  himself  before  their  passions,  in  full 
career,  and  show  them  that  they  trampled  on  every 
thing  sacred,  if  they  pursued  their  onward  course. 

The  consciousness  of  this  ultimate  purpose,  too,  gave 
a  dignity  even  to  acts  that  I  cannot  but  imagine  to  be 
reprehensible ;  and  even,  in  the  endeavour  itself  to  elicit 
from  dependants  the  secrets  and  character  of  their  lord, 
— an  occupation  which  surely  is  mean,  if  there  be  any 
thing  mean  on  earth, — there  was  an  air  of  authority  in 
his  whole  bearing,  which  made  it  seem  more  as  if  he 
were  examining  witnesses  with  the  power  and  right  of 
a  judge,  than  inquiring  into  the  private  history  of  others 
for  objects  of  his  own. 

It  is  with  regret  that  I  have  stated  this  blemish  in  a 
man  I  esteem  and  love,  though  no  one  will  see  these 
lines  till  both  our  eyes  are  closed,  and  his  virtues  will 
live  remembered  long  after  we  both  are  dust.  He  him- 
self, however,  saw  it  not  as  a  blemish ;  and  were  he  now 
to  behold  the  lines  in  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  por- 
tray it  in  its  true  features,  he  would,  very  probably,  say, 
that  1  had  softened  down  one  of  the  best  traits  in  his 
character  to  suit  my  own  prejudices ;  for  he  himself  has 
always  contended,  that  the  noblest  victory  he  ever  ac- 
quired over  human  weakness,  was  that  in  which  he  con- 
quered his  natural  repugnance  to  employ  means  which 
tne  world  condemns  and  scorns,  for  the  sake  of  effecting 
the  best  of  purposes. 

In  all  other  respects,  my  memory  can  rest  upon  every 
part  of  our  acquaintance  with  pleasure  ;  and  look  into  it 
as  narrowly  as  I  will,  I  find  qualities  in  his  character 
which  I  can  admire  and  respect.  In  point  of  physical 
gifts,  nature  had  originally  been  very  bountiful  to  him 
indeed,  and  he  had  cultivated  what  she  gave  with  ex- 
traordinary care.  A  fine  ear  for  music,  and  a  rich, 
melodious  voice,  gave  full  effect  to  a  copiousness  of 
words,  and  a  happy  selection  of  epithets,  that  could  only 
be  gained  by  long  study;  and  clearness  of  thought — 
which  is  probably  a  natural  faculty — was  thus  rendered 
doubly  efficacious  by  immense  power  of  expression. 

But  I  must  not  dwell  too  long  in  description,  which 
seldom  does  justice  to  its  object.  The  next  morning, 
in  strolling  through  the  park, — a  custom  which  my  habits 
of  early  rising  enabled  me  to  indulge  before  the  rest  of 
the  family  were  up,— I  was  joined  by  the  confessor,  or. 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  129 

as  he  was  generally  called,  the  directeur ;  and  although, 
as  I  have  said,  I  had  already  formed  an  erroneous 
opinion  of  his  character,  which  led  me  to  believe  that 
any  conversation  between  us  was  to  be  a  game  of  chess, 
where  it  would  behoove  me  to  be  wary  of  all  my  moves ; 
yet  there  was  something  so  bland  and  pleasing  in  his 
very  salutation,  that  I  walked  on  with  him,  not  ill- 
pleased  with  his  company, 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you  are  an  early  riser,  my  son,"  he 
said,  after  wishing  me  good-morning.  "  It  is  a  practice 
which  leads  to  many  worldly  advantages  ;  and,  where 
the  mind  is  well  disposed,  may  be  turned  to  better  pur- 
poses. There  is  a  freshness,  and  a  sublimity,  and  a 
calm  monitory  voice  in  the  early  morning,  which  in- 
spires purity  of  feeling,  counsels  good  purposes  for  the 
ensuing  day,  and  lifts  the  heart  to  adoration  of  the 
Being  who  made  all  the  bright  world  that  is  wakening 
around  us." 

Whether  he  did  it  with  that  purpose  or  not  I  cannot 
tell,  but  certainly  he  could  not  have  chosen  a  better 
method  of  breaking  down  all  the  barriers  between  us, 
which  my  examination  of  his  character  on  the  preced- 
ing night  had  raised  up,  than  by  thus  showing  me  that 
there  were  finer  thoughts  and  feelings  in  his  heart  than 
those  which  I  had  as  yet  discovered.  After  a  few  more 
words,  however,  in  the  same  strain,  he  again  brought  the 
conversation  to  Monsieur  de  Villardin;  and  he  now  spoke 
of  him  in  terms  of  tenderness  and  pity  which  he  hadre- 
strained  on  the  preceding  night,  while  in  the  presence 
of  the  old  domestic.  Nor  was  it  alone  his  sorrows  he 
appeared  to  commiserate  ;  he  seemed  to  pity  him  more 
for  his  errors  than  even  for  his  griefs.  He  spoke  of 
him  as  of  a  being  who,  with  noble  powers  and  a  gene- 
rous heart,  had,  by  a  few  weaknesses  and  faults,  created 
for  himself  lasting  misery  below,  and  endangered  his 
happiness  for  the  long  hereafter.  There  was  something 
so  eloquent,  I  may  say  so  sublime,  in  the  pouring  forth 
of  his  lamentation  over  one  who  was  evidently  his  friend 
as  well  as  his  penitent,  that  I  was  struck  and  affected ; 
while  all  my  prepossessions,  I  felt,  were  rapidly  giving 
way  to  a  truer  estimate  of  my  companion's  character. 

Seeing  that  I  listened  eagerly,  and  mistaking  the  cause 

of  the  surprise  which  was  visible  upon  my  countenance, 

he  added,  "  You  wonder  to  find  me  addressing  you  thus 

upon  the  subject  of  the  duke ;  but  you  must  remember 

F3 


190  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

that  I  am  his  confessor,  and  know  exactly  how  much 
you  know  of  his  affairs,  what  share  you  have  had 
therein,  and  how  you  have  borne  yourself  under  diffi- 
cult circumstances." 

I  replied  not ;  for  I  began  again  to  be  upon  my  guard, 
fancying  that  all  this  might  be  but  a  prelude  to  ques- 
tions which  I  might  not  think  fit  to  answer.  By  my 
silence  and  the  casting  down  of  my  eyes,  he  seemed 
at  once  to  enter  into  my  thoughts  : — "  Be  not  afraid,  my 
son,"  he  said,  laying  his  hand  upon  my  shoulder,  with 
a  smile ;  "  I  seek  no  information  that  you  can  give  me. 
Indeed,  what  need  I,  knowing  much  more  than  you  can 
know.  Suffice  it,  that  what  I  have  heard  of  your  con- 
duct,— making  allowance  for  faults  of  education  and 
habit, — leads  me  to  give  you  my  esteem  :  and  I  trust 
that,  even  yet,  with  your  good  aid,  I  may  be  able  to 
eradicate  from  the  bosom  of  my  noble  friend  the  root 
of  bitterness  that  poisons  all  the  current  of  his  days  : 
and  although  a  shadow  from  the  past  is,  I  am  afraid, 
cast  over  his  future  for  ever,  yet  we  must  try  to  soften 
it  by  the  light  of  hope,  which  springs  from  repentance." 

I  doubted  not  that  the  priest  alluded  to  the  death  of 
the  Count  de  Mesnil ;  but  it  was  neither  my  business  to 
take  it  for  granted  that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  con- 
fided that  secret  to  him,  nor  did  I  see  that  the  strong 
terms  he  used  were  very  applicable  to  that  event ;  for  I 
could  not  get  my  mind  to  comprehend  that  the  fact  of 
killing  an  adversary  in  fair  fight,  though  it  might  be  a 
"matter  of  personal  regret,  was  at  all  a  subject  for  re- 
ligious repentance.  I  replied,  therefore,  generally,  that, 
of  course,  he  was  the  best  judge  of  what  his  penitent 
had  to  atone  for ;  but  that,  for  my  part,  as  both  duty  and 
affection  prompted  me,  I  was  willing  to  strain  every 
nerve  to  relieve  the  mind  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  and 
to  restore  him  to  a  happier  state  of  feeling. 

"  1  doubt  you  not,  my  son,"  replied  he,  seeing  that 
there  was  still  some  holding  back  in  my  conversation 
with  him,  "  I  doubt  you  not,  and  trust  that  the  time  will 
soon  come  when  you  will  not  doubt  me.  In  the  mean- 
while, to  speak  of  another  part  of  our  subject,  good  old 
Laborde  tells  me  that  the  page,  Gaspard  de  Belleville, 
seems  lately  to  have  taken  your  place  in  the  duke's 
confidence.  Your  place  in  his  esteem  and  affection  he 
has  not  taken,  as  I  positively  know  ;  and  I  would  fain 
be  sure  of  the  fact  that  Jerome  Laborde  tells  me  before 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  131 

I  speak  with  Monsieur  de  Villardin  about  it.  Have  you 
yourself  remarked  any  difference  V 

"  So  much  so,"  I  replied,  "  that  many  a  painful  feeling 
have  I  experienced  on  the  subject.  Indeed,  I  attribute 
the  great  increase  of  that  evil  which  we  all  deplore  to 
the  fact  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  now  confiding  en- 
tirely in  persons  who  are  likely  to  foster  all  his  sus- 
picions, and  strengthen  every  wild  idea  that  jealousy 
may  suggest." 

"  And  do  you  think  that  this  Gaspard  de  Belleville  is 
a  person  to  do  so  V  demanded  the  priest. 

"  Beyond  all  doubt,"  I  answered.  "  So  sure  am  I,  and 
so  sure  have  I  been,  that  such  is  the  case,  that,  only 
yesterday,  I  contemplated  bringing  him  to  the  middle 
of  that  bridge  and  throwing  him  over  into  the  river, 
after  giving  him  fair  warning  of  my  intention." 

"  My  son  !"  exclaimed  the  confessor,  recoiling  with  a 
look  of  involuntary  horror ;  but  the  moment  after  he 
recovered  himself,  cast  his  eyes  down  upon  the  ground, 
and  muttered  a  short  prayer. 

"  Of  course,"  I  added,  seeing  the  surprise  painted  on 
his  countenance,  "  I  did  not  propose  to  do  so  without 
giving  him  every  fair  equality.  You  did  not  suppose,  I 
trust,  father,  that  I  would  take  him  by  surprise  V 

"  God  forbid,  my  son,  that  you  should  do  such  an  act 
at  all !"  rephed  the  confessor :  "  the  time  will  come 
when  you  will  think  better." 

He  said  nothing  more  upon  that  subject,  however, 
governing  his  own  feelings  with  wonderful  control ;  but, 
from  that  day  forward,  I  seldom  failed  to  meet  with 
Father  Ferdinand  in  some  part  of  my  morning's  walk  ; 
and  I  saw  that  the  words  I  had  spoken  with  regard  to 
Gaspard  de  Belleville  had  never  been  forgotten.  Gently 
and  cautiously,  but  firmly  and  perseveringly,  he  applied 
himself  to  change  opinions  and  prejudices  which  my 
early  habits  had  rendered  almost  a  part  of  my  na- 
ture. At  first  he  would  take  an  opportunity  of  descant- 
ing generally  upon  the  value  of  human  life,  as  the  most 
precious  gift  of  God  ;  and,  at  various  times,  he  put  it  in 
a  thousand  different  points  of  view ;  each  tending  to 
show  that  it  was  an  inestimable  gift,  which  no  creature 
had  a  right  to  take  from  another,  except  in  those  cases 
which  God  himself  had  pointed  out.  Now  he  repre- 
sented it  as  the  space  allotted  to  a  sinner  for  repent- 
ance ;   now  as   the  means    of  conferring  benefits  on . 


132  THE    ADVENTURES  OF 

Others, — rearing  and  supporting  a  family, — and  doing" 
the  will  of  the  Almighty,  Now  he  showed  it  as  the 
crowning  and  especial  gift  of  God — a  thing  alike  be- 
yond man's  comprehension  and  his  efforts,  which  he 
could,  indeed,  take  away,  but  which  he  could  never 
restore.  Now  he  would  display  the  horrors  that  would 
oppress  that  man,  who,  on  a  supposed  injury,  had  taken 
the  life  of  another,  if  ever  he  were  tp  discover  that  his 
passion  or  his  judgment  had  deceived  him,  and  that  no 
injury  had  really  been  done,  or  that  it  had  been  attrib- 
uted to  an  innocent  person.  Now  he  would  carry  his 
view  beyond  this  world,  and  represent  the  agony 
that  the  murderer's  soul  must  suffer,  when,  in  addition 
to  the  weight  of  the  crime  itself,  he  felt  loaded  with  all 
the  unrepented  sins  which  his  hand  had  prevented  his 
victim  from  atoning  upon  earth.  Then,  again,  he  would 
return  and  awaken  every  human  sympathy  ;  display  the 
sweet  ties  broken,  the  dear  hopes  destroyed,  the  noble 
careers  cut  short  by  such  deeds :  he  would  represent 
loves  and  affections  that  we  know  not  of,  bright  but 
secret  aspirations,  joys  and  good  deeds  concealed  from 
every  eye,  ended  for  ever,  as  the  punishment  of  some 
triflmg  fault  or  idle  folly ;  and,  in  the  end,  when  he 
found  that  all  my  prejudices  were  shaken,  he  addressed 
himself  direct  to  my  own  heart  with  such  powerful 
and  eloquent  exhortation,  that  thenceforth  I  mingled 
with  the  world  with  very  different  feelings  in  regard  to 
the  relationship  between  man  and  man. 


CHAPTER  XVri. 

In  speaking  of  Father  Ferdinand,  I  have  compressed 
into  one  view  the  effect  which  was  produced  upon  mjj" 
mind  by  many  long  interviews  with  him.  These  took 
place,  as  1  have  said,  almost  every  morning ;  but  in  the 
meanwhile  several  events  occurred  to  which  I  must 
now  turn.  A  slight  variation  in  our  dull  and  somewhat 
painful  course  of  life  was  afforded,  about  this  time,  both 
to  good  Jerome  Laborde  and  myself,  by  the  coming  of 
Jacques  Marlot  and  his  bride  to  my  house  at  Juvigny, 
and  by  the  preparations  which  preceded  his  arrival.     In 


JOHN   MARSTON  HALL.  133 

these  preparations,  indeed,  I  did  not  share  ;  but  almost 
every  day  I  perceived  that  good  Jerome  continued  to 
absent  himself  from  his  duties  at  the  chateau  for  a  suffi- 
cient space  of  time  to  run  down,  through  the  park,  to 
Juvigny ;  and  many  a  time  did  I  meet  him  with  gleesome 
satisfaction  depicted  on  his  countenance,  returning  from 
his  expedition  to  his  nephew's  new  dwelling. 

As  soon  as  I  had  learned  that  my  friend  Socrates  had 
brought  home  his  Xantippe,  and  was  fairly  in  possession 
of  his  new  abode,  I  asked  the  duke  permission  to  absent 
myself  for  an  hour  or  two,  and  sallied  forth  to  make  him 
a  visit  of  congratulation.  I  found  him  gazing  forth  from 
his  door,  with  pleasure  and  content,  at  the  prospect 
around  him,  having  the  farm  which  he  was  to  cultivate 
for  the  good  Ursulines  just  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  the  convent  itself  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ;  and  a 
little  stone  bridge,  at  half  that  distance,  to  render  it 
easily  accessible. 

Madame  la  mariee  was  within,  aided  by  a  bustling  big- 
nosed  Bretonne  servante,  arranging  the  household  gods ; 
and  Jacques  Marlot  himself  had  thus  an  opportunity, 
without  any  sacrifice  of  dignity  in  the  eyes  of  his  bride, 
to  pour  forth  his  joy  and  gratitude  to  John  Marston 
Hall. 

As  he  somewhat  belaboured  me  with  thanks  for  all 
sort  of  kindnesses,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  I  cut  him 
as  short  as  I  could,  by  demanding  impatiently  to  see  the 
bride. 

"  Ha !  ha !  my  young  lord  and  master,"  he  exclaimed, 
"  do  not  excite  my  jealousy  within  the  first  fortnight  of 
my  marriage  ;  for  I  have  but  lately  found  out  that  you 
are  an  old  friend  and  high  favourite  of  my  dear  better 
half." 

These  tidings  surprised  me  more,  perhaps,  than  they 
might  have  done  at  a  later  period  of  my  life  ;  for  at  that 
time  the  extent  of  my  female  acquaintance  was  very 
limited,  and  perhaps  the  most  decided  fragment  of  my 
boyhood  that  then  remained  to  me  was  a  lingering  dislike 
to  the  generality  of  female  society,  and  a  very  juvenile 
contempt  for  women  in  general. 

"Indeed  !"  exclaimed  I,  in  reply  to  Jacques  Marlot's 
information,  "  indeed  !  you  make  me  but  the  more  curi- 
ous. Let  me  offer  my  adorations  with  all  speed  to  the 
first  of  your  household  divinities." 

"  Well,  well ;  enter,  enter,  by  all  means,"  he  cried : 


134  THE    ADVENTURES  OF 

♦*  I  am  not  made  of  jealous  stuff,  thank  God ;  and,  as  our 
love  has  already  lasted  five  long  years,  1  trust  it  will  not 
break  short  at  matrimony." 

I  was  now  conducted  in  form  into  the  house ;  and  on 
the  first  floor  we  found  the  bride  and  her  coadjutrix, 
when  my  surprise  was  still  more  excited,  by  beholding 
in  Madame  Marlot  the  pretty  brunette  whom  I  had  seen 
at  the  inn  near  St.  Aubin,  on  my  first  arrival  in  Brittany, 
and  who  had  warned  me  of  what  was  passing  between 
her  father  and  the  groom  who  then  accompanied  me. 
After  the  first  salutation,  I  returned  her  my  thanks  in 
set  form,  although  I  had  nearly  lost  my  life  in  conse- 
quence of  her  information  ;  and  I  then  inquired  after  her 
worthy  and  respectable  father  as  tenderly  as  my  con- 
science would  permit  me  to  do. 

In  reply,  she  informed  me  that  her  parent  had  most 
unjustly  been  suspected  of  having  given  information  to 
the  same  band  of  robbers  who  had  plundered  me,  that 
the  courier  for  St.  Malo  was  about  to  pass  within  their 
hospitable  neighbourhood  on  a  certain  day  and  hour, 
and  that,  in  consequence,  he  had  been  arrested  and 
thrown  into  prison,  where,  within  one  fortnight,  he 
died,  just  as  the  authorities  were  about  to  liberate  him, 
having  become  convinced  of  his  innocence,  and  judging 
that  a  fortnight's  imprisonment  was  a  sufficient  punish- 
ment for  being  suspected.  The  prisoner  having  thus 
liberated  himself,  his  daughter  was  left,  according  to  her 
own  account,  sole  heiress  of  her  father's  wealth,  which 
proved  a  burden  less  weighty  than  she  had  anticipated. 
She  also  found  so  many  persons  in  this  generous  world 
willing  to  relieve  her  of  it,  that  she  saw  very  clearly  it 
would  soon  be  no  burden  at  all ;  and  therefore  she  set 
herself  to  consider  what  she  might  best  do  under  such 
circumstances,  when  suddenly  her  ancient  lover,  Jacques 
Marlot,  appeared  one  night  at  the  inn,  and  presented  her 
with  an  expedient  that  she  did  not  fail  to  adopt. 

In  reply  to  this  communication,  I  paid  her  my  compli- 
ments upon  her  wisdom  ;  and,  as  I  found  that  the  kind- 
hearted  brunette  and  her  bridegroom  were  both  bent 
upon  my  staying  to  partake  of  their  first  dinner  in  their 
new  dwelling,  I  yielded  to  my  fate,  and  found  that  nei- 
ther Jacques  Marlot's  taste  for  friandise,  nor  the  skill 
which  madame  had  acquired  in  the  kitchen  of  an  inn, 
had  abandoned  them.  During  our  meal,  my  philosopher 
gave  me  a  sketch  of  his  wandering  life  in  the  guise  of  a 


JOHN  MARSTON   HALL.  135 

pedler ;  and  then  related  the  means  he  had  employed  to 
obtain  his  pardon,  which  were  ingenious  enough.  It 
appears  that  in  France  the  presence  of  the  king  is  always 
mercy,  and  that  if  he  but  set  eyes  upon  a  condemned 
criminal  his  punishment  is  remitted.  Well  knowing  this 
fact,  and  trusting  to  his  disguise,  .Tacques  Marlot  made 
his  way  towards  Paris,  and  having  heard  that  the  king 
and  court  were  about  to  make  their  public  entrance  into 
the  capital  on  a  certain  day,  he  prepared  to  take  advan- 
tage thereof  to  obtain  his  pardon.  This  plan  succeeded 
to  his  wish.  Bribing  some  of  the  guards  at  the  palace 
with  a  considerable  portion  of  what  he  had  gained  in 
his  petty  traffic,  he  placed  himself  in  a  spot  where  the 
royal  party  were  sure  to  pass,  in  descending  from  their 
carriages ;  and,  as  the  young  king  and  the  queen  came 
on  together,  he  struggled  forward  to  cast  himself  at  their 
feet.  One  of  the  ushers,  indeed,  opposed  his  progress, 
and  knocked  the  poor  printer  down  to  make  him  clear 
the  way;  but  this  only  brought  him  literally  to  the  king's 
knees  ;  and  the  young  monarch's  first  impulse  was  to 
stoop  in  order  to  raise  him,  reproving,  at  the  same  time, 
the  usher  for  his  violence. 

Jacques  Marlot  rose  no  farther  than  his  knees,  how- 
ever, and  in  that  position  besought  pardon  for  his  of- 
fences. It  being  now  ascertained  who  the  intruder 
really  was,  the  guards  were  ordered  by  Mazarin  to  take 
him  into  custody  ;  and  poor  Marlot  was  removed,  trem- 
bling, as  he  acknowledged,  for  the  consequences  of  his 
bold  attempt.  The  rule,  however,  was  suffered  to  pre- 
vail even  in  his  case,  although  the  queen  and  the  cardi- 
nal were  both  exasperated  in  a  high  degree  against  the 
unfortunate  printer.  After  remaining  in  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  palace  for  more  than  an  hour,  his  pardon 
was  brought  him,  but  coupled  with  the  condition  that 
he  should  quit  Paris  immediately,  never  to  return,  and 
should  never  more  exercise  the  trade  of  printing  in  any 
part  of  France.  "  And  thus,  my  dear  benefactor,"  he 
added,  "  I  turned  my  steps  hither,  determined  to  become 
a  new  Cincinnatus,  and,  abandoning  the  government  of 
Roman  capitals,  to  dwell  upon  my  farm  and  put  my  hand 
to  the  plough." 

In  such  conversation  we  passed  an  hour  or  two  very 
cheerfully ;  at  the  end  of  which  time  I  took  my  leave, 
and  left  the  pair  to  conclude  their  evening  alone.  It 
was  now  about  two  o'clock,  on  a  fine  April  day ;  and 


136  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

walking  slowly  along,  I  meditated  over  all  the  strange 
turns  of  that  strange  and  unaccountable  thing,  fate, 
which,  principally  by  the  means  of  a  complete  stranger, 
had  conducted  the  ci-devant  printer  in  less  than  a  year 
from  the  foot  of  the  gallows  to  a  peaceful  retirement  in 
a  beautiful  country. 

On  entering  the  park,  I  took  the  shady  walk  by  the 
bank  of  the  stream,  both  because  the  warmth  of  the 
day  made  a  shelter  from  the  sun  not  unpleasant,  though 
the  year  was  yet  so  young,  and  because  I  always  had  an 
indescribable  pleasure  in  sauntering  by  a  running  water, 
and  gazing  upon  the  current  gushing  brightly  by  me. 
The  banks  here  were  irregular,  sometimes  high  and 
overhanging,  sometimes  sloping  softly  down,  and  dip- 
ping their  turf  into  the  stream ;  and  as  I  often  paused 
to  gaze,  and  ponder,  and  revolve  a  number  of  sweet  sun- 
shiny dreams  that  were  now  very  common  to  my  mind, 
I  was  at  least  twice  the  length  of  time  in  the  walk  that 
I  needed  to  be. 

Luckily  did  it  happen  that  I  was  so.  When  I  had  got 
about  half-way  to  the  chateau,  I  perceived  that  there 
were  others  in  the  walk  besides  myself;  and  straining 
my  eyes  a  little,  I  saw  that  it  was  Madame  de  Villardin, 
with  a  servant  a  step  behind  her,  and  her  little  girl  run- 
ning on  before.  The  duchess  approached  but  slowly, 
with  her  fine  eyes,  as  usual  now,  bent  pensively  upon 
the  ground,  and  her  hands,  which  were  very  beautiful, 
clasped  together,  and  resting  on  her  waist.  The  little 
girl,  full  of  the  joy  and  vivid  life  of  youth,  ran  backward 
and  forward  before  her  mother,  now  gathering  a  flower, 
now  peeping  over  at  the  stream,  and  receiving,  from 
time  to  time,  a  grave  caution  from  the  soubrette,  who 
walked  behind,  against  approaching  too  near  the  water. 
As  soon  as  she  saw  me,  however,  the  little  Laura  had  a 
new  object  of  attention,  and  running  along  the  walk  like 
light,  she  came  towards  her  play-fellow.  The  impulse, 
however,  was  soon  over  ;  and  ere  she  had  half  reached 
me,  she  slackened  her  pace  on  hearing  the  voices  of  her 
father  and  the  confessor  in  one  of  the  other  paths  hard 
by,  and  was  turning  gayly  to  seek  them,  when  an  early 
butterfly  started  up  from  the  bosom  of  a  flower  and 
caught  her  notice.  The  painted  insect  fluttered  on  be- 
fore her  with  that  sort  of  faint  impotent  flight  which 
leads  so  many  a  child  to  follow  on  for  miles,  still  hoping 
to  catch  it  at  every  step.     Eagerly  she  pursued,  with 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  237 

her  whole  young  soul  beaming  out  of  her  beautiful 
eyes.  For  some  way  the  butterfly  flew  on  down  the 
alley,  and  Laura  de  Villardin  was  close  upon  it ;  when, 
rising  a  little  in  the  air,  it  turned  its  course  towards  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  river.  With  a  bound  forward,  Ma- 
demoiselle de  Villardin  strove  to  catch  it  ere  it  escaped 
for  ever,  slipped  her  foot  on  the  bank,  and  plunged  over 
at  once  into  the  stream. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  three  or  four  long 
thrilling  shrieks  that  burst  from  the  lips  of  Madame  de 
Villardin  as  her  child  disappeared.  For  one  instant  they 
overpowered  me ;  but  the  next  I  darted  forward  to  the 
bank.  Luckily  the  stream  was  flowing  towards  me, 
and,  though  deep  and  rapid,  was  smooth  enough.  I 
cannot  remember  the  time  when  I  could  not  swim,  and 
the  only  difliculty  was  to  discover  the  object  of  our 
search.  The  first  plunge  over  had  made  her  sink,  and 
nothing  aopeared  as  my  eye  ran  along  the  river,  but  the 
flat  glistening  surface  of  the  stream. 

An  instant  after,  however,  the  little  girl  rose  again, 
and,  with  a  faint  cry,  held  out  her  arms  at  the  distance 
of  about  twenty  yards  from  me.  I  plunged  in,  with 
two  or  three  strokes  brought  myself  to  the  spot,  and, 
finding  that  she  had  sunk  again,  dived  down  where  I 
caught  the  gleaming  of  her  clothes ;  and  throwing  my 
left  arm  round  her,  shot  up  to  the  surface,  holding  her 
head  above  my  own.  By  the  convulsive  grasp  with 
which  she  seized  my  neck  and  hair,  I  found  that  she 
was  still  living;  and  the  joy  which  that  conviction  gave 
me  was  indescribable,  when,  on  rising  above  the  water, 
I  saw  the  scene  that  the  bank  presented.  Madame  de 
Villardin  on  her  knees,  with  her  hands  clasped,  and 
eyes  straining  upon  the  spot  where  I  had  disappeared, 
was  the  first  object  that  met  my  view ;  but  a  little 
nearer  stood  the  duke,  called  to  the  spot  by  the  shrieks 
of  his  wife  ;  while,  with  the  phrensy  of  agony  in  his 
whole  aspect,  he  was  evidently  only  restrained  from 
plunging  over  also  by  the  firm  grasp  which  the  priest 
had  laid  upon  his  arm.  Behind  him  appeared  the  form 
of  Father  Ferdinand,  raising  up  his  left  hand  with  im- 
pressive energy  ;  and  I  could  not  but  tliink  he  was  pre- 
dicting I  would  save  the  child.  The  whole  scene  was 
made  up  by  a  number  of  servants  running  down  towards 
the  spot,  together  with  the  woody  irregular  banks,  the 
bright  green  shades  of  the  young  leaves  which  clothed 


138  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

some  of  the  trees,  and  the  calm,  bright  sunshine, 
streaming  cheerfully  over  all,  as  if  there  were  no  such 
things  as  danger,  and  terror,  and  care,  and  distress,  in 
all  the  many  scenes  he  looks  upon. 

A  shout  of  joy,  that  made  the  banks  echo  again,  burst 
from  the  spectators,  when  we  rose  above  the  surface 
of  the  stream  ;  especially  when,  by  the  ease  with  which 
my  old  habits  of  swimming  enabled  me  to  bear  my  little 
charge,  they  saw  that  she  was  placed  beyond  farther 
risk ;  and  when  a  motion  of  her  hand  towards  her  father 
evinced  that  she  was  uninjured  from  that  which  had 
already  occurred.  All  crowded  round  the  spot  to  which 
1  directed  my  course ;  and  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  stoop- 
ing down  as  I  approached,  caught  his  child  in  his  arms, 
and  pressed  her  again  and  again  to  his  heart.  For 
some  time  Madame  de  Villardin  wept  in  silence,  holding 
one  little  hand  of  her  rescued  child,  and  kissing  her  fair 
cheek  as  she  lay  sobbing  and  agitated  in  her  father's 
bosom.  The  priest  looked  on  for  a  moment  or  two 
without  speaking ;  but  then  calhng  to  their  remembrance 
him  to  whom  their  thanks  were  first  due,  he  offered  a 
short  prayer  of  praise  and  gratitude  in  their  name  to 
the  Almighty  Giver  of  all  good. 

When  this  was  concluded,  Madame  de  Villardin  be- 
sought her  husband  to  give  their  little  Laura  into  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  servants,  with  orders  to  carry  her 
to  the  chateau,  lest,  from  the  dripping  state  of  her 
clothes,  she  might  encounter  a  danger  different  from 
that  which  she  had  just  escaped.  Her  father,  however, 
would  not  part  with  her ;  but,  so  far  following  the  sug- 
gestion, he  himself  carried  her  home,  hurrying  forward 
as  fast  as  possible,  while  Madame  de  Villardin,  with  the 
rest,  followed  more  slowly,  her  situation  preventing  her 
from  accompanying  her  husband  so  rapidly.  Her  feel- 
ings were  too  intense  for  speech,  and  she  proceeded  in 
perfect  silence  ;  while  the  priest,  who  followed  by  my 
side,  questioned  me  concerning  all  the  circumstances 
which  had  attended  the  accident. 

W^hen  we  arrived  at  the  castle,  we  were  met  by  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  himself,  leading  his  daughter  by  the 
hand,  now  clad  in  drier  garments,  and  smiling  as  gayly 
as  if  nothing  had  happened.  Such  moments  soften  and 
expand  the  heart;  and  the  duke's  first  act  was  one 
which  inspired  bright  but  delusive  hopes  of  better  days 
in  the  bosom  of  more  than  one  person  present.    Ho 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL:  }.^9 

held  his  daughter  up  in  his  arms  to  embrace  her  mother, 
and  then  taking  the  duchess's  hand,  he  pressed  a  kiss 
upon  her  cheek. 

Without  pretending  to  any  fine  feehngs,  I  may  truly 
say,  that  I  felt  as  glad  as  if  some  great  benefit  had  fallen 
upon  myself.  His  next  act,  however,  was  one  which 
gave  me  gratification  more  entirely  personal.  The 
little  Laura,  having  embraced  her  mother,  turned  to  me, 
and,  as  I  bent  over  her  to  ask  her  how  she  was,  she 
sprang  into  my  arms  and  kissed  my  cheeks  repeatedly, 
with  all  the  warmth  and  sincerity  of  childish  gratitude. 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  smiled  kindly  upon  us  both  ;  and 
the  duchess,  who  was  again  drowned  in  tears  of  joy, 
held  out  to  me  her  hand,  which  I  raised  respectfully  to 
my  lips.  We  all  now  entered  the  chateau,  and,  although 
I  was  not  very  apt  to  fear  wet  clothes,  I  made  the  state 
of  my  dress  an  excuse  for  retiring  to  my  chamber,  feel- 
ing that  the  duke  and  duchess  would  be  better  left  alone 
together  with  their  child  under  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  then  placed.  A  couple  of  hours 
elapsed  before  I  again  saw  any  of  the  family ;  but,  at 
the  end  of  that  time,  one  of  the  lackeys  entered  my 
room,  and  informed  me  that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  de- 
sired to  speak  with  me.  I  instantly  followed,  not 
doubting,  certainly,  that  his  intention  was  to  thank  me 
for  the  assistance  I  had  rendered  to  his  child ;  but  not 
expecting,  by  any  means,  the  deep  and  enthusiastic 
pouring  forth  of  gratitude  with  which  he  now  over- 
whelmed me. 

He  knew  not,  he  said,  how  he  could  express  his  feel- 
ings towards  me.  If  he  had  before  looked  upon  me  as  a 
member  of  his  own  family,  in  what  light  could  he  now 
look  upon  me,  when  I  had  saved  his  child,  the  idol  of 
his  heart,  from  the  death  which  so  imminently  threat- 
ened her  1  In  conclusion,  he  again  asked  what  he  could 
do  to  testify  his  affection  for  me,  and  to  express  his 
thanks  ;  and  bade  me  point  out  myself  any  way  which 
would  prove  most  gratifying  to  myself,  and  he  would 
instantly  pursue  it,  did  it  involve  the  sacrifice  of  half  his 
fortune. 

"  My  lord,"  I  replied,  "  I  hope  for  nothing,  I  wish  no- 
thing, 1  will  accept  of  nothing  for  doing  an  act  which  is 
far  more  than  repaid  by  seeing  the  happiness  whieh  it  has 
given  to  yourself  and  your  most  excellent  lady.  Or,  if 
I  must  ask  a  boon,  it  shall  be  alone,  that  you  will. 


140  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

through  life,  give  me  the  same  place  in  your  regard  and 
affection  that  you  do  now,  and  let  me  share  your  love 
and  confidence  as  long  as  we  both  live." 

"  That  boon,"  replied  the  duke,  "  was  granted  before 
you  sought  it.  For  never,  of  course,  can  I  behold  you  in 
any  other  light  than  as  the  dearest  and  best  beloved  of 
my  friends — nay  more,  as  a  benefactor,  though  the 
benefits  conferred  are  of  a  kind  that  1  can  never  repay. 
You  must  think,  therefore,  of  some  other  request ;  or,  if 
you  think  of  none  now,  let  it  stand  over  to  the  future, 
and  1  promise,  whatever  boon  you  then  ask  me,  to  grant 
you  upon  my  honour." 

"  I  do  not  think  I  shall  have  cause,  my  lord,"  I  replied, 
"  to  call  upon  you  to  fulfil  your  word,  but  as  there  is 
nothing  that  I  either  want  or  wish  for  at  present,  I  can 
certainly  ask  nothing  now." 

"  Well,  then,"  he  added,  "  let  it  remain  for  the  future ; 
but  one  thing  I  must  myself  do  immediately,  which  I 
have  heretofore  forgotten;  as  I  told  you  before,  it  will 
require  a  royal  ordinance  to  put  you,  as  a  foreigner,  in 
full  and  entire  possession  of  your  farm  of  Juvigny ;  and 
as  I  stand  not  over  well  with  the  court,  I  was  almost 
afraid  that  such  a  favour  might  be  refused  me,  if  I 
applied  without  some  special  reason  which  I  could 
assign  for  making  over  the  property  to  you.  I  now 
can  assign  the  noblest  and  the  most  valid  of  reasons,  and 
I  will  at  once  write  to  the  Prince  de  Conde,  one  of  my 
best  friends,  entreating  him  to  make  immediate  applica- 
tion to  the  court  for  such  letters-patent  as  may  enable 
you  hereafter  and  for  ever  to  obtain  and  hold  lands  and 
lordships  in  France,  as  if  you  were  a  native  subject 
of  the  realm." 

I  thanked  him  sincerely  for  all  his  kindness,  and  the 
letter  to  the  Prince  de  Conde  was  immediately  written 
and  despatched  by  a  special  messenger,  who,  before 
three  weeks  were  over,  brought  me  back  letters  of  natural- 
ization in  all  due  form,  and  entitling  me,  John  Marston 
Hall,  Sieur  de  Juvi^ny^ — a  name  which  afterward  I 
occasionally  adopted  when  circumstances  required. 

If,  in  the  household  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  there  had 
beenbefore  any  thing  wanting  to  my  being  considered  and 
treated  as  one  of  his  own  family,  such  was  no  longer 
the  case.  Every  day  something  new  was  done  to  con- 
tribute to  my  comfort  and  happiness.  My  time  was  left 
perfectly  at  my  own  disposal.    A  servant  was  selected 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  141 

peculiarly  to  attend  upon  me.  A  suite  of  handsome 
apartments  were  assigned  me  in  one  of  the  wings  of  the 
chateau.  Two  beautiful  horses  were  presented  to  me 
for  my  own  use  ;  and  no  young  cavalier  of  the  first 
quality  could  have  been  better  equipped  in  every  respect 
than  I  now  found  myself.  That  which  gratified  me  the 
most  of  all,  however,  was  to  find  that  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin  now  selected  me  continually  for  his  companion  ; 
and,  though  but  little  conversation  of  a  very  private 
nature  took  place  between  us,  yet  1  felt  that,  as  far  as 
his  confidence  went,  Gaspard  de  Belleville  was  beneath 
my  feet  for  ever. 

From  Father  Ferdinand,  too,  I  received  a  mark  of 
affection  and  kindness,  which,  as  I  had  now  learned  to 
appreciate  his  character  properly,  gratified  me  much. 
The  apartments  assigned  me  consisted  of  an  ante- 
chamber, a  little  saloon,  a  bed-room,  and  a  dressing-room ; 
and  I  was  surprised,  on  returning  one  morning,  to  see 
the  carpenters,  who  were  always  more  or  less  employed 
about  the  house,  engaged  in  putting  up  a  neat  bookcase 
in  my  ante-room.  This  was  followed  by  the  arrival  of 
two  large  packets  of  books  from  Rennes  ;  and  1  soon 
after  found  the  good  priest  busily  employed  in  placing 
them  in  order.  When  the  task  was  concluded,  he  begged 
me  to  accept  them  for  his  sake,  and  added,  "  I  have 
had  them  placed  here  for  you,  because  there  are  many 
leisure  moments  in  every  man's  life  which  he  is  glad  to 
employ  in  reading,  if  a  book  be  at  hand,  when,  probably, 
he  would  not  take  the  trouble  of  going  down  to  seek  one 
out  in  a  large  library  like  that  below." 

When  I  came  to  examine  the  store  that  the  good 
father  had  provided  for  my  mind,  I  was  both  pleased 
and  amused  with  his  selection ;  and,  indeed,  it  off"ered 
not  a  bad  type  of  his  own  mind.  The  books  were  in 
general  of  any  thing  but  a  heavy  or  very  serious  cast, 
though  among  them  were  to  be  found  a  number  of  vol- 
umes, in  the  pages  of  which  a  man  disposed  to  seek  for 
sound  and  wholesome  ideas  was  sure  to  find  them  on 
every  branch  of  morals  or  ethics.  The  generality, 
however,  consisted  of  the  best  and  purest  poets  in  the 
language ;  of  historians  a  considerable  number  ;  of  ro- 
mance writers  a  very  few  ;  but  all  were  chosen  evidently 
with  a  view  to  induce  a  habit  of  reading,  and  to  lead  the 
mind  on  to  knowledge  and  virtue  by  the  pleasant  path 
of  entertainment. 


l'*^  THE    ADVENTURES    Of 

The  effect  was  such  as  the  good  priest  could  have 
wished  and  desired  :  as  I  was  not  naturally  obstinate  or 
perverse,  the  knowledge  of  his  design  led  me  rather  to 
endeavour  to  accomplish  than  to  defeat  it.  Although 
my  taste  for  reading  was  certainly  never  so  great  as  it 
might  have  been,  yet  the  half-hour  that  I  snatched  twice 
or  thrice  in  the  course  of  each  day  to  peruse  some  of 
the  volumes  with  which  he  had  supplied  me,  carried  me 
through  a  great  number  of  the  classical  authors  both  in 
French  and  Latin,  and  gave  me  a  taste  for  many  things 
which  I  had  before  but  little  appreciated. 

Owing  both  to  new  pursuits  and  feelings,  my  time  did 
not  now  hang  heavy  on  my  hands ;  but  it  must  be  re- 
marked, also,  that  a  renewed  gleam  of  sunshine  had 
fallen  upon  our  dwelling,  which  made  every  thing  seem 
cheerful  around.  The  burst  of  kindly  emotions  and 
tender  feeling,  to  which  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  given 
way,  had  proved  more  permanent  than  might  have  been 
expected.  For  several  days  before,  the  confessor  had 
been  labouring  to  free  his  mind  from  its  delusions  ;  and 
although  he  had  clung  to  his  suspicions  with  all  the 
tenacity  of  a  jealous  disposition,  yet  the  calm,  steadfast 
reasoning  of  the  priest  had.  it  appears — together  with 
my  former  representations— produced  a  great  effect ; 
and  it  wanted  but  some  little  circumstance  to  wake  the 
dormant  affections  of  his  heart,  when  the  accident  that 
befellhis  child  occurred.  The  consequence  at  the  time 
I  have  already  noticed  ;  and  for  several  weeks  the  same 
mood  continued.  Every  thing  assumed  a  new  aspect, 
and  to  me,  especially,  the  whole  scene  was  full  of  en- 
joyment. 

Although  the  season  was  no  longer  one  in  which  we 
could  urge  the  chase,  as  we  had  formerly  done  at  the 
Pres  Vallee,  yet  fishing  and  falconry,  which  was  still  a 
favourite  sport  in  that  part  of  Brittany,  afforded  us  con- 
stant amusement ;  and,  as  I  have  said,  I  was  ever  by  the 
side  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  often  his  only  follower, 
and  always  his  most  cherished  companion.  The  only 
one  in  the  house  whom  this  change  seemed  really  to 
oppress  was  my  old  enemy  Gaspard  de  Belleville  ;  and 
never  did  1  set  out  with  the  duke  on  any  expedition  of 
pleasure,  but  I  caught  a  sight  of  his  brow  lowering 
upon  us,  evidently  full  of  gloomy  disappointment  at 
the  new  hold  I  had  obtained  of  his  master's  affections. 
That  he  would  struggle  to  regain  them  himself  and  en- 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  143 

deavour  to  deprive  me  of  the  confidence  and  regard 
which  he  coveted,  I  did  not  at  all  doubt ;  but,  as  I  feared 
nothing  for  myself,  and  trusted  that  his  power  of  in- 
juring Madame  de  Villardin,  at  least  in  regard  to  the 
Count  de  Mesnil,  was  at  an  end,  his  hatred  and 
malevolence  were  more  a  matter  of  mockery  to  me  than 
any  thing  else.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  know  when 
the  fangs  of  a  snake  are  drawn  completely :  and  I  had 
yet  to  learn  what  a  base  and  malicious  heart  can  accom- 
plish, when  it  scruples  at  no  means  to  serve  its  own 
sordid  and  ungenerous  purpose.  I  thought  it  quite 
sufficient  that  I  did  not  affect  to  triumph  over  him  who 
was  evidently  my  enemy,  and  that  without  insulting  him 
by  any  thing  like  protection  or  condescension,  I  treated 
him  with  civihty.  1  have  sometimes,  indeed,  been  sorry 
since  that  I  did  not  pursue  a  different  course,  and,  even 
by  irritating  him  still  more  against  myself,  who  could 
always  defend  myself,  give  a  different  direction  to  efforts 
which,  without  serving  his  own  purpose,  were  but  too 
fatal  to  the  peace  of  others. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  calm  continued  for  nearly  a  month  ;  and  though 
an  occasional  fit  of  gloom  would  fall  upon  Monsieur  de 
Villardin,  it  disappeared  on  every  occasion  ere  it  had 
lasted  many  hours.  So  much,  indeed,  did  the  harmony 
of  the  family  now  seem  restored,  that  Father  Ferdinand, 
although  he  had  agreed  to  fix  his  residence  permanently 
in  the  house  of  his  friend,  took  advantage  of  the  tran- 
quiUity  which  he  had  so  greatly  tended  to  re-establish, 
in  order  to  visit  Rennes,  and  arrange  his  affairs  in  that 
city  before  he  finally  settled  at  Dumont. 

The  situation  of  Madame  de  Villardin,  and  her  appear- 
ance, became  every  day  more  interesting  ;  and  although 
I  could  at  times  see  a  shade  come  over  the  countenance 
of  her  husband  while,  as  he  gazed  upon  her,  some  un- 
worthy suspicion  crossed  his  mind,  yet,  in  general,  he 
seemed  to  regard  her  with  that  increased  tenderness 
and  interest  which  every  man  must,  or  ought  to  feel 
towards  a  being  he  loves  under  such  circumstances. 


144  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

The  medical  attendants  of  the  duchess  had  strongly  en« 
joined  her  to  take  as  much  exercise  on  foot  as  possible ; 
and,  followed  by  a  servant  carrying  a  small  garden-seat, 
she  continued  her  walks  through  the  park,  resting  when- 
ever she  found  herself  tired,  and  proceeding  again  when 
she  felt  able.  In  many  of  these  walks  the  duke  himself 
accompanied  her,  and  still  more  frequently  joined  her 
at  one  of  her  halting-places.  All  this  bespoke  renewed 
affection  and  confidence  ;  and  I  too  certainly  hoped  and 
beheved  that  the  demon  which  had  caused  so  much  un- 
happiness  in  our  household  was  quelled  for  ever.  Such 
was  the  state  of  affairs  when  one  day,  by  the  duke's 
desire,  I  set  out  to  visit  Avranches  and  St.  Malo,  the 
latter  of  which  places  I  had  a  strong  desire  to  see.  My 
little  tour  lasted  four  days  ;  but  nothing  of  any  interest 
occurred  in  its  course,  except  an  accidental  interview 
which  I  had  at  St.  Malo  with  an  acquaintance  I  cer- 
tainly did  not  expect  to  see  so  soon  again  and  in  such  a 
place.  After  having  visited  the  port  and  perambn.lated 
such  of  the  fortifications  as  I  was  permitted  to  see,  I 
retired  to  the  house  of  one  of  those  aubergistes,  whose 
hospitable  dwellings  are  ever  ready  to  receive  the  money 
of  successful  captains  jusi  returned  from  the  sea;  and 
there  sitting  down  in  the  general  receptacle  of  guests, 
I  ordered  my  dinner,  which  was  set  before  me  by  the 
servants  with  all  the  promptitude  of  men  accustomed  to 
deal  with  a  hungry  and  impatient  race. 

Scarcely  had  I  begun  to  eat  when  a  gayly  dressed 
personage  entered,  and,  placing  himself  nearly  opposite 
to  me,  ordered  his  dinner  also,  in  a  tone  of  authority 
which  was  answered  with  due  respect  by  the  gargon, 
with  "  Yes,  captain — not  a  moment,  captain — directly, 
captain,"  This  new  guest  v/as  a  strong,  square-built 
man,  with  a  face  that  any  one  would  have  unscrupu- 
lously pronounced  a  frank,  open  countenance ;  but,  as 
soon  as  my  eyes  rested  upon  it, — although  his  whole 
garb  and  appearance  were  perfectly  naval, — yet  I 
thought  that  1  had  seen  him  fiUing  the  office  of  captain 
in  the  land  service  rather  than  the  marine.  He  caught 
me  gazing  at  him,  and,  as  he  did  so,  a  slight  frown 
curled  his  brow  ;  but,  as  I  did  not  usually  respect  frowns 
particularly,  I  only  smiled  in  return,  and  proceeded 
tranquilly  to  the  discussion  of  my  dinner.  Before  I  had 
proceeded  far,  however,  my  acquaintance  seemed  to 
have  made  up  his  mind  as  to  his  conduct ;  and,  taking 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  145 

a  moment  when  the  room  was  full  of  different  persons, 
he  exclaimed,  after  fixing  his  eyes  upon  me  for  a  mo- 
ment, "  I  think,  monsieur,  I  have  had  the  honour  of 
meeting  you  before." 

"  I  think  so  also,"  I  replied,  making  an  inclination  of 
the  head :  "  your  face  is  familiar  to  me,  though  I  really 
cannot  tell  where  I  have  seen  it." 

"  The  same  is  my  case,"  replied  he,  "  in  regard  to 
you ;  but,  at  all  events,  you  see  that  I  have  abandoned 
the  profession  of  arms,  which  I  followed  till  within  the 
last  six  months,  and  have  becomeanhumble  captain  of  a 
merchant  vessel  trading  to  the  colonies." 

"I  admire  the  versatility  of  your  talents,"  said  T, 
assuming  the  same  tone,  though  doubting  greatly  the 
truth  of  the  tale  he  told  me  :  '•  you  must  have  acquired  a 
knowledge  of  naval  matters  quickly  ;  for  now  I  remem- 
ber, you  were,  when  last  I  saw  you,  a  very  distinguished, 
active,  and  expeditious  officer  in  the  service  to  which 
you  were  then  attached." 

"  Oh,  monsieur,  you  are  too  flattering,"  he  replied, 
"and,  in  regard  to  my  versatility,  too,  do  me  more 
honour  than  I  deserve ;  for,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  was  origi- 
nally brought  up  in  the  navy.  You  doubt  me,"  he  added, 
in  a  lower  tone,  "  and  perhaps  doubt  the  whole  story, 
but  it  is  true  nevertheless.  I  have,  indeed,"  he  con- 
tinued aloud,  "  condescended  to  go  into  the  merchant 
service,  but  it  is  only  on  condition  that  my  ship  be  armed, 
and  one  of  the  finest  on  the  v/ater.  I  should  be  proud 
to  show  her  to  you,  sir.  We  sail  at  high  water,  which 
will  be  in  an  hour ;  and  if  you  will  come  with  me  to  the 
port,  you  shall  see  us  get  under  way." 

I  very  well  comprehended  that  it  might  not  be  quite 
agreeable  to  Captain  Hubert,  with  whom  I  had  made  a 
somewhat  interesting  acquaintance  in  a  certain  forest 
near  Rennes,  to  leave  a  person  who  knew  his  former 
pursuits  so  well  as  I  did,  to  walk  unwatched  through 
the  town  of  St.  Malo,  at  least  till  such  time  as  he  him- 
self had  fairly  sailed  ;  the  merchant  service,  it  appeared, 
being  his  real  occupation  at  the  present  moment.  To 
put  his  mind  at  ease,  therefore,  as  it  certainly  never 
entered  into  my  head  to  betray  him,  I  agreed  to  walk 
with  him  to  the  port :  and,  after  he  had  concluded  his 
dinner,  which  was  interrupted  by  the  applications  of 
half  a  dozen  clerks  and  twice  the  number  of  seamen,  all 

Vol.  L— G 


146  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

proving  that  his  tale  was  true,  we  turned  our  steps 
towards  the  spot  where  his  vessel  was  lying. 

Near  the  door  of  the  auberge  I  saw  the  servant  who 
had  accompanied  me  thither,  and  whom  I  had  left  to 
take  care  of  himself.  I  now,  however,  made  him  a  sign 
to  follow,  and  we  thus  proceeded  to  the  port,  which  was 
crowded  with  people  of  all  kinds,  all  busy  on  their  own 
peculiar  affairs,  and  seeming  to  think  that  there  was  no- 
body else  m  the  world  but  themselves.  Here  the  worthy 
captain  pointed  out  to  me  his  vessel,  which,  indeed,  was 
of  a  goodly  size,  and,  apparently,  well  armed ;  and  it 
being  now  time  that  he  should  embark,  he  gave  me  a 
friendly  invitation  to  go  with  him  and  take  a  hasty  view 
of  the  interior.  This  honour,  however,  1  decUned ;  and, 
playfully  catching  me  by  the  cpUar,  he  declared  I  should 
go,  pushing  me  at  the  same  time  towards  his  boat  with 
an  air  of  jest,  but  at  the  same  with  sufficient  force  to 
hurry  me  on  a  step  or  two,  before  I  was  aware.  The 
spectators  laughed  at  the  good-humoured  captain's  badi- 
nage ;  but  I,  who  had  seen  more  of  his  jests  than  pleased 
me,  laid  my  hand  upon  my  dagger,  and  beckoned  the 
groom  towards  me,  saying,  at  the  same  time,  "  Let  go  my 
collar,  my  good  sir,  while  the  matter  is  a  joke !  You 
know  I  am  hasty." 

"  Oh,  if  you  take  it  in  that  light,"  replied  the  other, 
seeing  the  groom  running  up,  "  you  are,  of  course,  free 
to  do  as  you  like.  But,  remember !"  he  added,  in  a  low, 
deep  voice.     "  Remember !" 

"  Pshaw !"  I  replied,  in  the  same  tone,  "  do  not  be 
afraid;  I  will  not  betray  you." 

"  I  trust  you,"  he  said  :  "  I  trust  you,"  and,  springing 
into  his  boat,  he  was  instantly  rowed  off  to  the  ship, 
leaving  me  to  congratulate  myself  on  having  escaped  a 
trip  to  the  colonies,  where  most  likely  I  should  have 
been  treated  more  as  the  merchandise  than  the  mer- 
chant.* 

Amused  with  my  adventure,  I  returned  to  my  au- 
berge, where  I  asked  one  or  two  questions  concerning 
the  worthy  gentleman  from  whom  I  had  just  parted,  and 
found,  by  the  replies,  that,  since  our  former  rencounter 


*  In  explanation  of  this  expression  of  the  worthy  autobiographer, 
it  may  be  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  that  numbers  of  persons 
were,  about  that  time,  kidnapped  and  sold  as  slaves  in  the  various 
American  colonies. 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  147 

in  tlie  forest,  he  had  already  made  one  successful  trip 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  had  given  every  sort  of  satis- 
faction to  the  owners  of  his  vessel.  "  All  is  well  that 
ends  well,"  I  thought ;  but,  however,  it  was  no  business 
of  mine  to  interfere  with  a  man's  return  to  an  honest 
profession,  and  therefore,  of  course,  I  held  my  peace 
concerning  one,  at  least,  of  his  previous  occupations. 

The  next  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  1  set  off  on  my 
return  to  Dumont,  pleased  with  my  whole  expedition, 
and  trusting  foolishly  to  find  every  thing  in  the  same 
state  of  tranquillity  which  had  reigned  there  when  I 
left  it.  As  I  rode  on,  and  entered  the  park  by  the  gates 
near  Juvigny,  all  appeared  sunshine  and  brightness,  and 
there  was  an  aspect  of  calm  serenity  about  the  whole 
place  which  rendered  it  almost  impossible  to  conceive 
that  it  was  the  abode  of  any  thing  but  happiness.  About 
half-way  up  the  avenue  I  perceived  Monsieur  de  Villar- 
din  approaching  towards  me,  with  his  arms  crossed  on 
his  breast,  and  a  sort  of  staggering,  uncertain  step,  which 
seemed  to  me  extraordinary.  I  immediately  dismounted, 
and  giving  the  horse  to  the  groom,  advanced  on  foot  to 
meet  the  duke,"  who  evidently  saw  me,  but,  suddenly 
turning  away,  he  took  a  path  into  one  of  the  side  alleys  ; 
and  seeing  that  he  wished  to  be  alone,  I  remounted  my 
horse  and  rode  on  to  the  chateau.  The  first  person  I 
saw  in  the  house  was  Gaspard  de  Belleville,  who  passed 
me  in  the  vestibule,  with  a  sort  of  grin  upon  his  coun- 
tenance, which  made  me  fear  that  matters  were  not  go- 
ing so  well  as  I  could  wish ;  for  I  had  remarked  that 
his  smiles  were  not,  in  general,  the  precursors  of  any 
thing  very  pleasant  to  myself. 

The  feeling,  indeed,  that  some  disagreeable  event  had 
occurred,  was  vague  ;  but  I  had  always  found  it  the  best 
plan  to  make  instant  inquiries  into  the  situation  of  af- 
fairs around  me,  as  soon  as  ever  I  had  the  slightest  sus- 
picion tbat  any  thing  had  gone  amiss.  Without  even 
proceeding  to  my  own  apartments,  therefore,  I  directed 
my  steps  at  once  to  the  room  of  my  domestic  oracle, 
the  major-domo,  and  entered  unannounced.  The  old 
man  was  busy  with  papers  and  accounts  ;  but  the  mo- 
ment he  saw  me  he  threw  them  down  upon  the  table, 
and  Ufting  up  his  hands  with  an  air  of  affliction,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  It  has  all  gone  wrong  again,  sir ;  it  has  all 
gone  wrong." 

"  Why,  what  in  heaven's  name  is  the  matter  now,  Je- 
G2 


148  THE    ADVENTURES  OF 

rome  ?"  I  demanded.     "  When  I  left  you,  all  bade  faiif 
to  continue  tranquil  and  at  peace." 

"  Ay !  but  there  is  some  demon  of  mischief  at  work 
in  the  house,"  replied  the  old  man,  "  whose  machina- 
tions we  don't  understand.  My  lord  is  a  thousand  times 
worse  than  ever.  Indeed,  he  hardly  appears  to  me  to  be 
sane." 

This  news,  as  it  may  well  be  supposed,  grieved  me 
deeply  ;  but,  of  course,  my  first  thought  was  to  discover 
the  origin  of  the  change  that  had  taken  place,  in  order, 
if  possible,  to  counteract  any  evil  that  might  have  been 
produced  either  by  accident  or  by  design.  "  Tell  me, 
good  Jerome,"  I  said,  as  the  old  man  was  going  on  with 
desultory  lamentations  and  vague  facts,  "  tell  me  ex- 
actly what  has  occurred  since  1  went  away,  step  by 
step,  as  nearly  as  you  can  remember  it." 

"  Why,  my  son,"  he  replied,  "  I  have  very  little  to 
tell,  except  what  I  have  before  said,  that  my  lord  seems 
nearly  insane.  However,  let  me  see !  The  only  thing 
that  occurred  worth  noticing  the  day  after  you  went 
away  was,  that  in  returning  from  Juvigny,  where  I  had 
been  visiting  my  nephew,  late  in  the  evening,  I  found 
Master  Gaspard  and  Madame  Suzette,  my  lady's  maid, 
in  one  of  the  alleys  of  the  park  a  great  deal  more  inti- 
mate than  I  liked.  I  had  seen  something  of  the  same 
kind  before  at  the  Pres  Vallee  ;  and  then,  though  I  did 
not  choose  to  show  myself  in  the  matter,  I  took  good 
care  that  my  lady  should  know  what  was  going  on  ;  and 
I  know  that  she  scolded  Suzette  severely,  and  threat- 
ened to  discharge  her  if  she  behaved  so  hghtly.  How- 
ever, there  they  were  again,  walking  along  together, 
certainly  more  like  two  lovers  than  a  page  of  good 
birth  and  a  lady's  tiring-woman  ought  to  be.  Coming 
upon  them  suddenly,  I  passed  by  without  their  well  see- 
ing who  I  was ;  but  I  heard  him  say  to  her,  speakmg 
of  some  one  else,  '  Oh !  he  would  take  fire  at  it  in  a 
minute  ;  any  thing  of  that  kind  would  do  very  well.' 
This  time  I  thought  it  mybounden  duty  to  tell  my  lady 
myself  what  I  had  seen,  and  she  was  very  angry  indeed. 
The  morning  after  that,  as  I  was  just  going  up  the  great 
staircase,  I  heard  a  terrible  noise  in  my  mistress's  dress- 
ing-room, and  the  next  moment  my  master  passed  me 
like  a  madman ;  while  I  saw  Lise,  the  other  maid,  run- 
ning out  of  my  mistress's  room  as  if  for  help.  The  mo- 
ment she  set  eyes  upon  me,  she  called  me  to  come 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  149 

up  and  help  her ;  and  I  found  my  mistress  lying  upon 
the  floor  of  her  dressing-room,  as  if  she  were  dead ; 
while  beside  her  there  was  a  large  roll  of  bright  blue 
riband,  which  seemed  to  have  fallen  out  of  her  hand. 
While  we  were  lifting  her  up  to  put  her  on  the  couch, 
my  lord  rushed  in  again,  and  giving  a  glance  at  her  as 
if  she  had  been  a  viper,  snatched  up  the  riband,  and  left 
us  to  bring  her  to  herself  as  we  best  could.  She  did  not 
recover  for  some  time  ;  and  I  thought  it  but  right  to 
call  the  doctor,  who  kept  her  to  her  bed  all  that  day.  In 
the  meanwhile  I  asked  Lise  to  explain  the  cause  of  all 
this  discomfort ;  and  she  told  me  that  she  knew  but 
little,  not  having  heard  all  that  passed  between  my  lady 
and  my  lord.  When  first  she  went  into  her  mistress's 
dressing-room,  she  said,  she  found  Suzette  persuading 
her  mistress  to  have  her  white  mantle  trimmed  with 
that  blue  riband :  and  though  her  mistress  said  it  would 
look  ugly,  still  she  held  it  in  her  hand.  In  a  minute  or 
two  afterward  Suzette  went  away,  and  the  duchess 
asked  Lise  whether  she  thought  the  riband  would  look 
well  on  the  mantle.  Just  while  they  were  speaking,  in 
came  my  lord,  and  Lise  went  on  into  the  bed-room  be- 
yond ;  but  in  a  moment  after  she  heard  a  word  or  two 
about  the  riband,  and  my  lord  gave  my  lady  some  hard 
names  which  she  would  not  repeat.  Hearing  some  one 
fall,  she  ran  in,  she  said,  to  see,  and  found  the  duchess 
as  1  have  told  you  she  was  when  I  came  there.  Ever 
since  that  time  my  lord  has  been  like  one  distracted ; 
and  though  he  saw  his  wife  yesterday,  he  spoke  not  a 
word  to  her,  but  all  the  time  he  was  in  the  room  he  con- 
tinued playing  with  the  curls  of  mademoiselle's  hair, 
and  thinking  of  something  else." 

Although  I  saw  more  deeply  into  the  mystery  than 
good  old  Jerome  Laborde,  and  felt  afraid,  indeed,  that 
he  himself  might  unintentionally  have  contributed  to 
bring  about  the  change  that  we  both  deplored,  yet  there 
were  many  points  of  the  whole  business  still  dark  and 
obscure  even  to  myself.  That  the  discovery  of  a 
riband  in  the  hands  of  his  wife,  of  the  same  colour,  and 
probably  the  same  shade,  as  that  which  suspended  the 
locket  to  the  neck  of  the  unfortunate  Count  de  Mesnil, 
had  revived  in  the  mind  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  with 
more  tremendous  force  than  ever,  those  suspicions  which 
the  exhortations  of  Father  Ferdinand  and  my  own  direct 
testimony  to  the  duchess's  conduct  had  crushed  with 


150  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

difficulty,  I  did  not  in  the  least  doubt.  Nor  had  I  more 
hesitation  in  concluding  that  Gaspard's  hatred  of  myself, 
and  desire  to  supplant  me  in  the  confidence  of  Monsieur 
de  Villardin,  together  with  the  off'ence  which  the 
duchess's  rebuke  in  regard  to  the  page  had  given 
Suzette,  were  sufficient  motives  for  the  lovers,  or  para- 
mours, or  whatever  they  might  be,  to  combine  in  foster- 
ing the  suspicions  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin  against  his 
wafe,  and  thus  revenging  themselves  upon  her  while 
they  rendered  themselves  agreeable  to  him.  But  how 
they  came  by  the  knowledge  necessary  to  make  such 
schemes  effectual  was,  I  confess,  a  wonder  to  me. 
Could  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  I  asked  myself,  could  he 
have  been  weak  enough  to  confide  in  Gaspard  de  Belle- 
ville the  secret  of  his  encounter  with  the  Count  de 
Mesnil,  and  the  discovery  of  the  locket  audits  contents? 
or  could  either  Gaspard  or  Suzette  have  watched  our 
proceedings  on  that  occasion,  or  have  overheard  any 
of  the  conversations  relating  to  it,  which  had  taken 
place  between  myself  and  the  duke  ]  The  first  suppo- 
sition! rejected  at  once,  for  it  was  impossible  to  believe 
that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  would  trust  to  the  ear  of  one 
whom  he  himself  suspected  of  having  betrayed  his  confi- 
dence in  former  instances,  a  secret  which,  from  the 
concealment  and  privacy  that  had  attended  the  duel, 
might,  in  all  probability,  involve  his  own  life.  Neither 
could  I,  in  calling  to  mind  with  the  most  scrupulous 
accuracy  every  circumstance  relating  to  the  transac- 
tion, believe  that  we  had  either  been  watched,  or  that 
any  of  our  words  had  been  overheard.  The  spot  where 
the  duel  had  taken  place  was  so  remote  and  private, 
every  thing  in  the  house  had  been  so  much  in  its  usual 
train  when  we  returned,  that,  certainly,  no  one  could  have 
followed  us  from  the  chateau  to  the  place  of  combat ; 
and  any  conversations  that  had  taken  place  upon  the 
subject  afterward  had  always  been  carried  on  in  low 
tones,  and  in  places  where  it  was  almost  impossible  that 
they  could  be  overheard. 

All  this  perplexed  me  greatly  ;  and  although  good 
Jerome  Laborde  pressed  eagerly  for  my  opinion,  I  could 
neither  give  him  insight  into  the  past  nor  advice  con- 
cerning the  future.  All  that  I  could  suggest  was,  that 
with  the  very  first  opportunity,  he  should  send  off  notice 
of  what  had  occurred  to  Father  Ferdinand,  who  might 
boldly  originate  the  subject  in  conversation  with  th*j 


JOHN  MARSTON    HALL.  151 

duke,  without  waiting  till  he  was  addressed  upon  it. 
This,  of  course,  neither  Jerome  nor  I  dared  attempt ; 
though  we  naturally  determined  to  do  our  best,  should 
the  occasion  of  serving  the  unhappy  duchess  present 
itself. 

The  means  of  sending  off  speedily  to  Father  Ferdi- 
nand Avere,  luckily,  found  without  difficulty;  for,  though 
we  could  not  risk  despatching  a  servant  to  him  from  the 
chateau,  yet  Jerome  saw  that  another  messenger  might 
be  procured  by  the  intervention  of  Jacques  Marlot. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  determined  to  write  to 
the  priest  myself ;  and,  having  done  so,  I  committed  the 
letter  to  the  hands  of  the  good  major-domo,  who  under- 
took that  it  should  go,  at  the  latest,  the  next  morning. 
All  this  occupied  some  time,  and  it  was  now  growing  late ; 
but  yet  the  duke  had  not  returned.  Another  hour  elapsed ; 
supper-time  arrived ;  and,  although  one  of  the  most 
regular  men  in  his  habits  that  I  ever  saw,  still  Monsieur 
de  Villardin  did  not  appear.  The  whole  household 
became  alarmed;  and  Madame  de  Villardin  herself, 
whom  some  one  foolishly  informed  of  the  facts,  gave 
herself  completely  up  to  terror  ;  and,  weeping  bitterly, 
came  down  to  the  hall  in  order  to  send  out  people  to 
seek  for  her  husband.  At  that  moment,  however,  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin's  step  was  heard  in  the  vestibule  ;  and 
immediately  afterward  he  entered  the  hall. 

He  took  but  little  notice  of  his  wife,  merely  asking, 
'^'  Why  are  you  weeping,  madam "?"  and  after  her  reply, 
that  she  was  apprehensive  for  his  safety,  he  cast  down 
his  eyes  and  stood  musing,  in  the  middle  of  the  hall,  for 
two  or  three  minutes,  which  seemed  perfect  ages  to 
those  who  were  the  spectators  of  so  painful  a  scene. 
Then  starting  suddenly,  he  looked  round  ^rowninglyupon 
myself  and  several  of  the  servants  who  were  gazing 
upon  him  in  surprise  and  sorrow,  and  sat  down  to  table 
unwashed  and  in  his  dusty  dress. 

He  seemed,  however,  by  this  time,  to  have  recovered 
some  kind  of  command  over  his  demeanour,  and  ap- 
peared eager  to  prevent  the  servants,  whose  astonish- 
ment he  saw  that  he  had  excited,  from  remarking  that 
there  was  any  thing  in  his  behaviour  different  from  his 
ordinary  habits.  He  spoke  to  Madame  de  Villardin 
frequently  during  supper,  to  which  she  sat  down  with 
him,  using,  as  he  addressed  her,  all  those  forms  of  cold 
courtesy  and  politeness  which  none  knew  better  how 


152  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

to  employ  than  himself.  To  me,  also,  he  spoke  once 
or  twice  concerning  my  late  expedition  ;  and  evidently 
strove,  with  a  desperate  effort,  to  appear  attentive  to 
my  replies.  It  was  in  vain,  however,  that  he  did  so  ; 
for  he  continually  relapsed  into  deep  thought,  every 
two  or  three  minutes  rousing  himself  violently  from  his 
reveries,  and  then  falling  back  again,  whether  he  w^ould 
or  not,  into  a  state  of  dreary  abstraction. 

The  next  morning  a  new  change  seemed  to  have 
taken  place  in  his  mood,  for  he  came  down  perfectly 
himself,  collected,  and  firm.  He  was  quick  and  stern, 
it  is  true,  but  that  was  a  frame  of  mind  in  which  we 
had  all  often  remarked  him,  and  thought  there  was  now, 
perhaps,  something  more  approaching  towards  fierce- 
ness in  his  manner  than  we  had  ever  beheld  ;  yet  this 
demeanour  was  so  much  better  than  the  state  of  the 
preceding  evening,  that  it  appeared  a  relief. 

Several  times  during  the  course  of  the  morning  I 
hoped  that  he  was  going  to  speak  to  me  on  the  subject 
of  his  new  suspicions,  for  more  than  once  he  looked  earn- 
estly, I  may  call  it  wildly,  in  my  face  :  and  once,  when  he 
had  done  so  during  a  longer  space  than  ever,  he  suddenly 
broke  off,  and  turned  away,  muttering,  "  No,  no !  myself 
alone !" 

I  eagerly  watched  his  conduct  to  Madame  de  Vil- 
lardin  during  dinner,  and  saw  that  it  was  certainly  very 
different  from  that  of  the  night  before — keen  and  rapid, 
but  no  longer  harsh  and  abstracted.  Yet  though  the 
duchess  herself  seemed  delighted  with  the  change,  and 
did  all  she  could  to  soften  him  still  farther,  there  ap- 
peared to  me  something  not  natural  in  his  manner, 
which  alarmed  me  ;  and  I  determined  to  walk  down  to 
Juvigny,in  order  to  make  vsure  that  the  letter  had  been 
despatched  to  Father  Ferdinand,  for  whose  coming  I 
prayed  more  fervently  than  I  had  ever  before  done  for 
the  presence  of  any  other  man  in  my  life.  The  reply 
was  satisfactory — a  messenger  having  been  sent  off  to 
Rennes  at  an  early  hour ;  and  I  felt  certain,  though  it 
might  be  late  the  next  day  before  the  confessor  could 
arrive,  that  he  would  not  suffer  two  suns  to  rise  ere  he 
was  in  the  chateau. 

So  far  relieved  was  the  mind  of  Madame  de  Villardin 
by  the  alteration  in  her  husband's  conduct,  which  she 
apparently  trusted  would  now  return  to  its  ordinary 
course,  that  she  began  to  resume  her  usual  habits  ;  and, 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  153 

accompanied  by  her  little  girl,  took  her  stated  walk  in 
the  cool  of  the  evening ;  for  it  was  now  the  month  of 
May,  and  as  warm  as  June.  The  duke  was  shut  up  in 
his  library  all  day,  and,  I  supposed,  alone  ;  but  in  descend- 
ing the  back  staircase, — which,  leading  from  my  apart- 
ments in  the  wing,  passed  one  of  the  library  doors,  and 
thence  to  the  court  behind  the  chateau, — I  encountered 
Suzette,  the  duchess's  woman,  coming  out  from  a 
conference  with  Monsieur  de  Villardin ;  and  I  felt  sure, 
from  that  moment,  that  no  internal  change  of  feeling 
had  taken  place  in  his  bosom,  though  he  might  assume, 
by  a  great  effort,  a  different  demeanour  to  those  around 
him.  To  the  hour  of  supper  he  was  this  night  exact ; 
and  though  his  conversation  was  evidently  forced, 
and,  perhaps,  a  little  rambling,  yet  it  was  fluent  and 
courteous. 

After  supper,  I,  as  usual,  retired  to  my  own  apart- 
ments, and,  full  of  painful  thoughts,  turned  to  the  win- 
dow, and  gazed  out  upon  the  park  as  it  lay  before  me, 
sleeping  in  the  calm  moonlight.  I  had  not  been  there 
a  moment,  when  a  figure  appeared  upon  the  terrace, 
which  I  instantly  recognised  as  that  of  Monsieur  de 
Villardin.  With  a  quick  and  irregular  pace  he  de- 
scended the  flight  of  steps  that  led  into  the  garden, 
crossed  it  towards  the  park,  and  in  a  minute  after  was 
lost  to  my  view  in  one  of  the  dark  alleys.  Never  did  I 
feel  so  tempted  to  play  the  spy  ;  but,  though  I  was  con- 
scious that  the  motive  was  not  an  evil  one,  yet  my 
mind  revolted  from  the  thought,  and,  casting  off  my 
clothes,  I  went  to  bed. 

The  next  morning  and  day  passed  much  in  the  same 
manner  ;  but,  about  half  an  hour  before  dusk,  while 
Madame  de  Villardin  was  preparing  for  her  evening 
walk,  the  duke  himself  set  out  on  foot  before  her, 
saying  to  his  wife,  as  he  left  the  saloon,  in  which  I 
happened  to  be  at  the  time,  "  As  you  are  not  going  to 
take  Laura  with  you  to-night,  if  you  come  down  the 
walk  by  the  water-side,  I  will  meet  you.  Our  young 
friend  here  will  accompany  you!" 

Madame  de  Villardin's  joy  at  these  words  almost 
overflowed  at  her  eyes;  and,  though  she  had  never 
said  she  was  not  about  to  take  her  little  girl  with  her,  as 
the  duke  implied,  yet  she  determined  to  follow  his 
words  exactly,  and,  leaving  mademoiselle  to  play  in  the 
flower-garden,  under  the  superintendence  of  Suzette, 
G3 


154  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

she  set  out  about  ten  minutes  after  her  husband,  acconv 
panied  by  myself  alone.  She  walked  but  slowly,  and 
rested  about  half-way  down  the  walk  ;  but  although  the 
sun  was  below  the  horizon,  and  the  light  was  growing 
faint,  yet  the  air  was  so  warm  and  the  sky  so  clear,  one 
could  have  walked  on  for  hours  with  far  more  pleasure 
than  in  the  full  glare  of  day. 

Ere  we  had  again  proceeded  a  dozen  yards,  we  saw 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  come  into  the  alley  as  if  from  the 
bank  of  the  river ;  and,  offering  his  arm  to  his  wife,  he 
took  the  garden-seat  which  1  was  carrying,  and  walked 
on  down  the  alley  in  silence.  A  minute  or  two  after, 
however,  as  we  approached  one  of  the  little  wooden 
bridges,  he  paused,  and  asked  Madame  de  Villardin 
whether  she  was  able  to  walk  on  a  little  farther  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  "  I  have  just  now  seen  a 
wounded  chevreuil,"  he  said,  "  and  wish  to  put  it  out  of 
its  agony ;"  and  then  turning  to  me,  he  bade  me  run 
back  to  the  house,  and  bring  his  carbine,  which  I  should 
find  charged  in  his  dressing-room. 

His  voice  faltered,  I  observed,  as  he  spoke,  and  the 
moment  he  had  done,  he  turned  towards  the  little 
bridge  which  might  lie  at  about  fifty  or  sixty  yards  from 
the  spot  where  we  stood.  A  feeling  of  awe  and  agita- 
tion came  over  me  not  to  be  described,  for  I  had  a  sort 
of  instant  conviction  that  all  was  not  right ;  and,  though 
I  took  a  few  steps  towards  the  chateau,  I  paused  again 
almost  immediately,  not  knowing  how  to  act  or  what 
to  do.  Never  in  my  existence  did  I  feel  such  a  painful 
state  of  uncertainty  ;  and,  gazing  after  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin and  his  fair  wife,  as  they  advanced  slowly  towards 
the  bridge,  my  mind  in  a  moment  ran  over  a  thousand 
vague  apprehensions,  probable  and  improbable,  which 
only  left  the  conviction  that  something  fearful  was 
about  to  occur,  though  of  what  nature  I  could  not  divine. 

"  His  carbine !"  I  thought,  "  long  before  I  can  get 
back,  it  will  be  too  dark  for  him  to  shoot  any  thing 
thirty  yards  from  him !"  and  I  resolved  to  follow,  and, 
pretending  I  had  forgotten  what  he  had  said,  to  ask 
where  the  weapon  was  to  be  found.  When  I  turned, 
— though,  as  I  have  said,  it  was  quite  dusk, — I  could 
see  the  figures  of  Monsieur  and  Madame  de  Villardin  ap- 
proaching the  river;  and,  walking  fast  to  come  up  with 
them,  I  was  within  twenty  yards  of  the  bridge  when 
they  began  to  cross  it.     Scarcely,  however,  had  they 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  155 

t£^en  two  steps  upon  the  wood-work  when  I  heard  a 
crash,  a  scream,  a  plunge,  and  both  figures  at  once  dis- 
appeared. 

I  darted  forward  to  the  spot  where  the  bridge  had 
stood,  but  nothing  now  remained  of  it  but  some  broken 
fragments  attached  to  the  piles,  which,  driven  into 
the  high  bank,  had  served  as  the  foundation.  The 
growing  obscurity  of  the  twilight,  the  trees  that  over- 
hung the  banks,  the  height  of  the  banks  themselves, 
which  at  that  spot  rose  full  twenty  feet  above  the 
stream,  the  rushing  and  rippling  of  the  current,  which, 
there,  considerably  confined  by  its  bed,  hurried  on  to- 
wards a  sharp  turn  which  it  took  about  fifty  yards 
below, — all  served  to  prevent  me  seeing  distinctly 
what  were  the  objects  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 
Fragments  of  the  bridge  there  certainly  were  ;  but  I 
saw  neither  Madame  de  Villardin  nor  her  husband, 
though  the  whirhng  of  a  part  of  the  wood- work  in  one 
of  the  eddies  of  the  river  made  me  for  a  moment  think 
I  beheld  the  struggles  of  a  living  creature.  I  paused 
but  for  a  single  instant  to  calculate  what  were  best  to 
do  ;  and  then,  seeing  that  there  was  nothing  else  to  be 
done,  I  leaped  from  the  high  bank  at  once  into  the 
stream,  and  as  soon  as  I  rose  after  the  first  plunge,  I 
struck  rapidly  down  the  current,  in  order,  by  exceeding 
its  own  speed,  to  come  up  with  whatever  objects  it  was 
carrying  down.  Almost  at  the  turn  of  the  river,  where 
the  water  in  circling  round  the  point  drifted  strongly 
against  the  bank,  which  was  here  again  less  steep,  at 
least  on  one  side,  I  saw,  among  some  broken  pieces 
of  wood,  a  larger  object,  impeded  in  its  course  down 
the  stream  by  some  projecting  stones  and  roots  of 
trees,  and  the  next  moment  I  grasped  the  arm  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin.  He  seemed  perfectly  insensible ; 
but,  springing  to  the  shore,  I  dragged  him  up  the  bank, 
and  laid  him  upon  the  turf.  Still  he  made  no  move- 
ment ;  but,  as  I  confess,  that  from  various  feelings 
which  I  need  not  explain,  I  felt  more  interested  in  the 
fate  of  Madame  de  Villardin  than  even  in  his  own,  I  left 
him  at  once,  and,  again  plunging  into  the  stream,  I 
swam  rapidly  round  the  little  peninsula  I  have  men- 
tioned. 

The  river  here  was  more  open,  and  whatever  light 
was  in  the  sky  was  reflected  clearly  upon  its  bosom ; 
but,  by  this  time,  all  the  fragments  of  the  bridge  had 


156  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

drifted  out  of  sight,  and,  in  vain  lifting  my  head  as  high 
as  I  could,  I  attempted  to  discover  any  object  floating 
upon  the  water.  Still  darting  on  as  fast  as  my  utmost 
efforts  could  impel  me  along  the  current,  I  endeavoured 
to  regain  the  time  lost  in  drawing  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin  on  shore  ;  and,  after  a  moment,  a  faint  and  very 
distant  cry  for  help  caught  my  ear  and  encouraged  me 
to  strike  on.  The  cry,  however,  was  never  repeated ; 
and  after  swimming  till  I  was  perfectly  exhausted,  I  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  attempt  in  despair,  and  landed 
about  a  mile  below  the  dwelling  of  good  Jacques  Mar- 
lot.  Thither  I  directed  my  steps  as  fast  as  possible ; 
and,  finding  the  door  locked,  1  knocked  for  several  mo- 
ments so  violently  as  to  bring  him  himself,  with  a  face 
of  terror,  to  the  gateway.  Telling  him  what  had  oc- 
curred, I  besought  him  to  rouse  all  the  servants  of  the 
farm  and  the  cotters  in  the  neighbourhood,  and,  dividing 
into  two  parties,  one  on  either  bank,  to  search  the 
whole  course  of  the  stream  with  torches  and  lanterns. 

In  the  meanwhile  I  hurried  back,  and  calling  the 
woodcutter  at  the  nearest  gate  of  the  park,  made  him 
hasten  on  with  me  to  the  spot  where  1  had  left  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin,  answering  as  well  as  I  could  the 
eager  questions  which  he  put  to  me,  as  we  went,  con- 
cerning the  events  which  had  occurred. 

We  found  the  duke  exactly  where  I  had  left  him  ;  but, 
though  he  had  not  moved  in  the  slightest  degree,  it  was 
evident  that  he  was  still  alive,  for  he  was  breathing  loud 
and  hard,  like  a  person  in  a  deep  sleep.  Taking  him  up 
in  our  arms,  we  carried  him  as  quickly  as  we  could  to  the 
chateau,  when  we  were  instantly  surrounded  by  the 
whole  household  ;  and  by  the  lights  which  were  now 
brought,  we  perceived  that  a  severe  blow  on  the  head 
was  more  probably  the  cause  of  his  insensibility  than 
the  short  time  he  had  remained  in  the  water. 

Leaving  him  in  the  hands  of  the  physician,  who,  for 
the  last  month,  had  inhabited  the  chateau,  attending 
upon  Madame  de  Villardin,  I  set  out,  with  the  greater 
part  of  the  household,  all  furnished  with  torches  ;  and, 
for  three  hours,  continued  our  search  for  the  body  of 
the  unhappy  lady,  from  the  spot  where  the  bridge  had 
broken  to  a  village  nearly  six  miles  farther  down  the 
stream.  Our  search,  however,  was  in  vain;  and  all 
feeling  that  a  good  mistress,  a  kind  friend,  and  a  gentle 
lady,  was  lost  to  us  for  ever,  we  returned  sad  and  sor- 
rowful to  the  chateau. 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  157 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  sound  of  our  steps  crossing  the  terrace  was  heard 
within  the  chateau  as  we  returned  from  our  ineffectual 
search;  and,  on  entering  the  vestibule,  the  first  object 
on  which  my  eye  fell  was  the  form  of  Father  Ferdi- 
nand, advancing  to  meet  me.  The  natural  clear  brown 
of  his  complexion  had  now  given  way  to  a  deadly  pale- 
ness ;  and  I  saw  by  the  haggard  anxiety  of  the  noble 
old  man's  eye,  the  tremulous  eagerness  of  his  lip,  and 
the  agitation  that  pervaded  his  whole  frame,  how  deep 
and  heartfelt  was  the  interest  which  he  took  in  the  fate 
of  those  to  whom  he  was  attached. 

"  Have  you  found  her  V  he  cried ;  "  have  you  found 
her  r' 

A  mournful  silence  was  the  only  reply  ;  and  the  priest, 
clasping  his  hand  over  his  eyes,  remained  for  a  moment, 
or  two  apparently  in  prayer.  When  the  hand  was  with- 
drawn, however,  it  was  clear  that  tears  had  mingled 
with  his  orisons ;  and,  turning  away  from  the  gaze  of 
the  domestics,  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  led  me 
towards  the  library.  There,  closing  the  door,  he  cast, 
himself  into  a  seat,  and  gave  way  to  a  burst  of  feeling 
which  certainly  did  not  lower  him  in  my  estimation. 

"  This  is,  indeed,  terrible,"  he  said,  when  he  had 
somewhat  recovered  himself.  "  This  is,  indeed,  most 
terrible  ;  and  even  I,  who  am  too  well  accustomed  to 
witness  scenes  of  death,  and  crime,  and  sorrow,  am 
overpowered  by  this." 

"  Is  Monsieur  de  Villardin  dead,  thenV  I  exclaimed, 
misunderstanding  him.     "  Is  he  dead  V 

"  No,  no,"  replied  the  priest,  "  he  is  still  alive,  and 
likely  to  live  ;  but,  1  fear  me,"  he  added,  "  is  likely  to 
live  only  to  wretchedness  and  remorse.  Tell  me  !  tell 
me,  my  son,  how  did  all  this  happen  1  for  it  seems  you 
were  the  only  one  present  at  the  time  this  fatal  catas- 
trophe occurred." 

To  answer  his  question  was  more  difficult  than  it 
would  seem  at  first  sight ;  for  it  required  no  small  care 
to  avoid  mingling  the  dark  suspicions  that  were  in  my 


158  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

own  mind  with  the  facts  that  I  myself  had  seen,  espe- 
cially as  I  perceived  that  the  priest  himself  entertained 
many  doubts  of  the  event  which  had  occurred  having 
been  purely  accidental.  All  that  he  could  positively 
know,  indeed,  must  have  been  obtained  from  such  infor- 
mation as  the  physicians  and  the  domestics  had  gleaned 
from  the  broken  account  I  had  given  on  first  returning 
to  the  chateau,  but  it  was  evident  to  me  that  his  own 
knowledge  of  foregone  facts  had  led  his  mind  to  dark 
suspicions,  for  which  he  now  sought,  in  his  conversation 
with  me,  either  confirmation  or  disproof.  I  replied, 
however,  as  cautiously  as  I  could,  telling  him  the  simple 
facts  as  they  had  happened,  but  abstaining  scrupulously 
from  all  remarks.  My  manner,  beyond  doubt,  was  em- 
barrassed, for  I  would  fain  have  spoken  freely  with  the 
priest,  and  fully  believed,  even  at  the  time,  that  I  might 
do  so  without  danger ;  but  I  imagined  that  I  had  no  right 
to  give  utterance  to  the  slightest  unascertained  particu- 
lar, and  therefore  evinced  a  backwardness  to  explain 
more  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  which  he  instantly 
remarked. 

"  Are  you  deceiving  me,  my  son  V  he  asked,  gravely. 

"  No,  indeed,  father,"  I  answered,  "  I  am  telhng  you 
the  simple  truth  ;  but  for  reasons  of  my  own  you  must 
let  me  do  so  without  comment,  and  draw  your  own  de- 
ductions from  what  you  yourself  know." 

"  Well,  then,"  he  said,  after  musing  a  moment,  "  you 
say  that  you  were  turning  back  to  ask  him  where  his 
carbine  was  placed  when  you  saw  the  accident  that 
occurred.  Tell  me  now,  my  son,  did  your  never-failing 
memory  and  attention  abandon  you  in  the  present  in- 
stance ;  or  had  you  forgotten,  in  reality,  where  he 
had  told  you  that  the  weapon  was  to  be  found  ?" 

"  I  had  not  forgotten,"  I  replied,  "  and  only  turned 
back  with  that  excuse,  because  I  did  not  wish  to  leave 
him  just  at  that  moment." 

"  Then  you  must  have  apprehended  something,"  said 
the  priest ;  "  tell  me  what  it  was,  and  why  you  did  so. 
You  may  do  so  safely,  my  son ;  for  I  pledge  my  word 
that  your  reply  never  passes  my  lips." 

Thus  pressed  home,  I  replied,  "  Certainly  I  did  appre- 
hend something,  good  father;  but  my  apprehensions 
were  quite  vague  and  unformed,  pointing  to  no  particu- 
lar object,  and  having  no  very  definite  cause." 

"  Then  why  did  you  entertain  fears  at  all,"  demanded 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  159 

Father  Ferdinand,  "  if  you  had  seen  nothing  to  excite 
them  r' 

"  I  had  seen  much  to  excite  fears  of  every  kind,"  I 
answered  ;  "  the  whole  demeanour  of  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin,  his  altered  habits,  his  look,  the  fierceness  of  his 
manner,  the  wildness  of  his  eye,  all  made  me  fear  that 
he  was  hardly  sane,  and  that  surely  was  excuse  suffi- 
cient for  general  apprehensions." 

"  It  was,"  said  the  priest,  "  it  was  ;  and  your  conduct 
was  so  just  and  proper  in  writing  to  me  at  first,  that  I 
will  not  believe  you  conceal  any  thing  from  me  now." 

"  Father  Ferdinand,  I  will  tell  you  the  truth,"  I  re- 
joined, as  he  was  about  to  proceed ;.  "  I  conceal  from 
you  no  fact  of  any  kind ;  but  I  do  retain  in  my  own 
bosom  all  those  deductions  which  I  have  made  from  the 
same  events  that  I  have  detailed  to  you." 

"  It  matters  httle,"  he  said,  "  it  matters  little !  The 
truth  of  all  I  shall  soon  know  from  this  unhappy  man,  if 
ever  he  recover  the  use  of  his  reason,  and  in  the  mean 
time  I  will  draw  my  own  conclusions." 

"  Has  he  been  roused  from  the  stupor  into  which  he 
had  fallen  V  I  asked. 

"Completely,"  answered  the  confessor,  "but  he  is 
now  in  a  state  of  raving  delirium,  which  is  still  more 
fearful.  Of  course,  however,  you  are  at  liberty  to  go 
and  see  him  ;  and  I  do  not  know  that  it  will  not  be  better 
for  you  and  me,  and  old  Jerome  Laborde,  with  whom  all 
secrets  are  safe,  to  take  upon  ourselves  the  entire  tend- 
ance of  the  duke  during  his  illness,  than  to  suffer  others, 
on  whose  discretion  we  cannot  rely,  to  wait  upon  him. 
Men  in  delirium  often  say  fearful  things,  which,  whether 
true  or  false — whether  the  breakings-forth  of  long-sup- 
pressed remorse,  or  the  mere  dreamings  of  a  disordered 
imagination, — make  deep  impression  on  the  hearers,  and 
are  often  transmitted  to  others  with  all  the  evidence  of 
truth.  We  had  better,  perhaps,  watch  him  alone.  Do 
you  understand  V 

"  Perfectly,"  I  replied,  "  and  will  be  guided  in  all 
things  by  your  counsel,  father.  Would  that  you  had 
eome  before  to  direct  us." 

"Would  I  had!  would  I  had!"  rephed  the- priest,, 
sadly.  "  But  it  was  impossible.  I  set  out  from  Rennes 
as  soon  as  I  received  your  letter,  and  travelled  even 
with  far  more  haste  than  beseemed  my  age  and  m;^ 
profession." 


160  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

We  now  repaired  to  the  chamber  of  Monsieur  de  Vil^ 
lardin,  and  made  arrangements  with  the  physician — in 
whom  the  confessor  appeared  to  place  full  confidence — 
for  carrying  into  execution  what  had  been  already  pro- 
posed. It  was  at  once  determined  that  we  should  each 
watch  six  hours  at  a  time  by  the  couch  of  the  sick  man, 
whose  ravings  were  certainly  of  a  nature  to  be  kept 
secret  as  far  as  possible.  Now  he  would  call  upon  the 
Count  de  Mesnil, — now  use  harsh  and  cruel  words,  as 
if  towards  his  wife, — now  speak  of  a  cunningly  devised 
scheme  to  end  it  all  at  once, — now  talk  of  a  bloody 
grave  beneath  the  oak  ;  and,  in  short,  he  would  let  drop 
a  thousand  wild  and  whirUng  words,  which,  with  all 
their  incoherence,  might  very  well  have  led  to  the  dis- 
covery of  much  that  he  would  willingly  have  concealed, 
and  to  the  suspicion  of  other  acts,  of  which,  perhaps, 
he  was  innocent,  though  he  never  gave  his  mind  time  to 
remain  long  enough  upon  the  fearful  facts  that  busied  it, 
to  pour  forth  any  thing  like  a  coherent  tale  in  regard  to 
either  of  them. 

As  the  physician  had  now  done  his  part,  and  as  I  bore 
on  my  face  sufficient  traces  of  fatigue  and  anxiety,  the 
confessor  took  upon  himself  the  first  six  hours'  watch, 
saying,  that  while  he  sat  up  he  would  write  to  the  uncle 
of  Madame  de  Villardin,  whose  domains  were  situated 
in  the  Orleanois. 

I  certainly  do  not  remember  to  have  been  ever  more 
fatigued,  and  wiUingly  took  advantage  of  the  good 
priest's  proposal.  As  I  retired  with  the  medical  man, 
however,  I  asked  him  eagerly  what  was  the  state  in 
which  he  had  found  the  duke  when  we  brought  him 
home  ;  and,  in  reply,  he  explained  to  me  that  though  his 
scull  was  not  fractured,  yet  a  severe  concussion  of  the 
brain  had  taken  place,  from  his  head  having  struck,  in 
the  fall,  either  some  projecting  rock,  or  some  piece  of 
the  broken  bridge.  From  the  ravings  which  had  since 
come  on,  he  feared,  he  said,  that  there  was  a  tendency 
to  inflammation ;  and  on  my  pressing  to  know  what 
would  be  the  result,  he  shook  his  head  doubtingly,  say- 
ing, that  the  result  was  in  the  hands  of  God  alone  ;  he 
himself  could  not  venture  to  give  an  opinion  on  the 
subject. 

I  did  not  sleep  more  than  four  or  five  hours,  and,  on 
rising,  proceeded  towards  the  apartments  of  Monsieur 
de  Villardin,  in  order  to  take  my  place  by  his  bedside^ 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL,  161 

I  found  old  Jerome  Laborde  already  there,  however; 
who,  having  been  made  aware  of  the  arrangements  of 
the  preceding  night,  had  come  about  half  an  hour  before 
to  relieve  the  priest.  By  this  time  the  duke  had  fallen 
into  a  quiet  sleep,  from  which  I  augured  well ;  and  leav- 
ing the  old  major-domo  to  hold  out  his  watch,  I  de- 
scended to  the  saloon,  feeling  most  oppressively  that 
deep  and  shadowy  gloom  which  always  seems  to  fall 
over  a  house  where  such  a  sudden  and  fatal  event  has 
taken  place  as  that  which  distinguished  the  foregoing 
evening.  The  low  voice  in  which  every  one  spoke 
when  they  met,  the  stealthy  pace  with  which  every  one 
moved  about  the  mansion,  the  stillness  which  pervaded 
the  whole  place,  expressed  the  sense  of  awe  that  was 
felt  by  every  bosom,  and  had  something  awful  in  itself. 

All  this  struck  me  much  as  I  descended  the  stairs  ; 
but,  on  entering  the  saloon,  there  was  something  more 
painful  still  to  be  encountered.  The  little  Laura  de  Vil- 
lardin  was  playing  near  one  of  the  windows  with  some 
trinkets  of  her  mother's,  but,  the  moment  I  entered, 
she  ran  up  to  me  with  open  arms,  and  holding  up  her 
fair  face  towards  me,  exclaimed,  "  Oh !  tell  me — tell 
me,  where  is  mamma  1  Suzette  says  she  is  dead,  and  I 
shall  never  see  her  again.  What  does  dead  mean? 
Where  is  she  gone  to  V 

It  was  impossible  to  hear  such  questions  calmly ;  and, 
for  the  first  time  since  my  father's  death,  I  wept  like  a 
child.  Suzette  herself  now  entered  the  saloon,  and, 
for  a  moment,  her  eyes  and  mine  met.  Whether  what 
I  felt  towards  her  was  very  visibly  expressed  in  my 
glance  or  not,  I  cannot  tell,  but  she  turned  extremely 
red,  and  casting  down  her  eyes,  caught  the  little  girl 
by  the  arm  and  drew  her  rudely  out  of  th.e  room.  In 
truth,  I  was  not  sorry  to  be  spared  more  questions ; 
and,  taking  my  hat,  I  walked  forth  into  the  park. 

The  morning  was  as  warm  and  bright  as  that  of  the 
preceding  day ;  and  a  feeling  of  painful  curiosity  im- 
pelled me  directly  towards  the  spot  where  the  accident 
had  occurred  on  the  night  before.  I  followed  the  exact 
path  which  I  had  pursued  with  Madame  de  Villardin,  and 
as  I  turned  from  the  lateral  alley  where  we  had  met  the 
duke,  into  the  short  path  which  led  to  the  broken  bridge, 
I  suddenly  saw  the  form  of  Father  Ferdinand  standing* 
at  the  very  point  to  which  I  was  directing  my  steps. 
He  turned  round  as  I  approached,  and,  without  any  ap«^ 


162  THE    ADVENTURES  OF 

parent  surprise,  beckoned  me  towards  him.  I  walked 
on  at  once  ;  and,  for  two  or  three  minutes  after  I  had 
come  up,  we  stood  gazing  together  in  silence  upon  all 
that  remained  of  the  wooden  arch  which  had  there 
spanned  across  the  river,  and  which  I  myself  had  passed 
over  on  horseback  not  five  days  before.  Very  little  of 
it  was  now  to  be  seen,  for  full  twelve  feet  of  the  centre 
had  fallen  into  the  river  and  had  been  carried  away  ;  but 
enough  still  remained  attached  to  the  piles  at  the  sides 
to  show,  in  some  degree,  the  manner  of  the  accident, 
though  not  the  cause.  The  nails  which  had  fixed  the 
cross  supports  to  the  rafters  had  either  given  way,  or 
had  been  drawn  out ;  and  the  two  main  beams  which 
upheld  the  whole,  having  been  deprived  of  every  thing 
that  strengthened  them,  had  broken  at  the  side  nearest 
the  chateau,  and,  dragged  down  by  their  own  weight 
from  the  piles  on  the  other  bank  of  the  river,  had  fallen 
with  the  rest  of  the  wood-work  into  the  current,  and 
been  carried  away. 

A  part,  however,  of  one  of  them  remained,  as  I  have 
said,  attached  to  the  side  where  we  stood  ;  and  after 
contemplating  the  whole  for  some  time  in  silence,  the 
priest  laid  his  hand  upon  my  arm,  as  he  saw  my  eyes 
fixed  upon  the  broken  beams,  and  he  asked,  in  a  tone 
half  stern,  half  sorrowful,  "  Do  you  remark  nothing 
there,  my  son  ?" 

I  stooped  down  and  looked  more  closely,  but  still 
kept  silence  ;  and  he  added,  "  Then  I  will  ask  you,  in 
plainer  terms,  do  you  not  perceive  the  marks  of  a  saw  V 

"  I  am  afraid  I  do,"  replied  I,  rising  up. 

"  It  is  enough,"  he  said ;  and  with  his  foot  pushed 
the  fragments  of  the  beams  over  into  the  water,  which 
was  easily  accomplished,  as  all  that  held  them  had 
already  been  nearly  wrenched  out  by  the  breaking  down 
of  the  rest  of  the  bridge.  Father  Ferdinand  and  my- 
self gazed  at  each  other  for  several  moments  with  sad 
and  bitter  hearts,  and  then,  feeling  that  nothing  more 
need  be  said  between  us,  we  each  turned  on  our  way 
without  another  word.  Father  Ferdinand  took  the 
path  back  to  the  chateau,  but  I  walked  on  towards  Ju- 
vigny,  in  the  sad  hope  of  hearing  from  good  Jacques 
Marlot  that  the  body  of  Madame  de  Villardin  had  been 
found.  On  my  arrival,  however,  I  learned  that  Madame 
Marlot  herself,  who,  it  seems,  was  in  a  delicate  situ- 
ation, had  been  so  agitated  and  alarmed  by  all  the  dis- 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  163 

turbance  and  anxiety  of  the  preceding  night,  as  to  be 
obliged  to  keep  her  bed  that  morning ;  and  the  large- 
nosed  Bretonne  servante,  who  gave  me  these  tidings, 
added,  that  her  master  was  gone  over  to  the  gate  of  the 
convent,  and  that  I  should  certainly  meet  him  there  if  I 
walked  that  way. 

I  did  as  she  suggested,  and  met  Jacques  Marlot  re- 
turning from  the  convent ;  but  he  informed  me  that  no 
trace  had  been  discovered  of  the  body  of  Madame  de 
Villardin :  and,  as  his  wife  was  ill,  I  turned  back  towards 
the  chateau.  As  I  passed  by  the  bridge  again,  1  found 
Gaspard  de  Belleville,  and  one  or  two  of  the  servants, 
examining  the  spot  where  the  fatal  event  had  occurred ; 
and  it  was  not  difficult  forme  to  perceive  that  the  whole 
household  looked  upon  the  page  and  myself  as  irrecon- 
cilable enemies,  by  the  manner  in  which  the  servants 
drew  away  from  his  side  when  I  approached.  As  I  had 
most  scrupulously  avoided  mentioning  even  his  name 
to  any  one  when  not  absolutely  called  upon  to  do  so,  it 
must  have  been  from  Gaspard  himself  that  the  domestics 
had  learned  that  any  degree  of  enmity  existed  between 
us.  At  all  events,  their  having  discovered  the  fact  was 
by  no  means  to  his  advantage  ;  for  as  my  good-will 
was  of  more  value  in  the  family  than  his,  from  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  I  stood  with  regard  to  the  duke, 
my  favour  was  of  course  more  courted, — and  it  often 
happened  that  it  was  courted  at  his  expense. 

As  I  wished  to  be  asked  no  questions  upon  the  subject, 
I  passed  on,  without  noticing  any  one,  and  after  an  hour 
or  two  spent  in  the  melancholy  rooms  of  the  chateau,  I 
went  to  take  the  place  of  good  Jerome  Laborde. 
While  I  watched  by  Monsieur  de  Villardin  he  woke  from 
the  sleep  into  which  he  had  fallen  ;  but  so  far  from  my 
anticipations  of  amendment  being  realized,  he  appeared 
infinitely  more  delirious  than  ever.  His  words,  how- 
ever, were  now  so  incoherent  and  wild,  that  the  most 
suspicious  ear  could  have  drawn  no  meaning  from  them ; 
and  thus  luckily  they  continued  through  the  rest  of  his 
illness.  ■  For  nearly  a  fortnight  he  remained  in  the  same 
condition,  but  at  the  end  of  that  period  a  material 
change  for  the  better  began  to  manifest  itself,  and  the 
ravings  to  which  he  had  been  subject  ceased  entirely  ; 
though,  by  this  time,  he  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  infant 
weakness. 

Innumerable  visiters  had  presented  themselves  at  the 


164  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

chateau,  as  the  tidings  spread  through  the  country- 
and  all  who  could  hope  to  obtain  any  thing  by  his  death 
were  most  assiduous  and  tender  in  their  inquiries. 
Shortly  before  he  recovered  his  reason,  also,  the  Count 
de  Loris,  the  uncle  of  his  late  wife,  warned  of  Madame 
de  Villardin's  death  by  a  letter  from  Father  Ferdinand, 
with  whom  he  was  well  acquainted,  appeared  at  the 
chateau,  and  took  up  his  abode  there  for  the  time  ;  but 
as  he  had  never  heard  of  any  dissensions  between  his 
niece  and  her  husband,  and  care  was  taken  not  to  make 
him  aware  of  the  painful  state  in  which  they  had  lived 
for  the  last  five  or  six  months,  the  good  old  count  ex- 
pressed, and,  I  believe,  felt  as  much  anxiety  in  regard  to 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  as  if  he  had  been  his  own  son. 
His  manners  were  simple  and  kind  to  all  around  him, 
and  when  informed  by  Father  Ferdinand  of  the  share  I 
had  borne  in  several  of  the  late  events,  he  embraced  me 
tenderly,  and,  after  thanking  me  repeatedly,  made  me 
relate  every  particular  in  regard  to  the  accident  which 
had  befallen  his  unhappy  niece.  The  warm  tears 
coursed  each  other  down  his  cheeks  as  I  proceeded,  and 
when  I  had  ended,  he  said,  "  If  ever  I  can  serve  you, 
young  gentleman,  let  me  know.  I  am  a  man  of  few 
words,  but  1  mean  what  I  say." 

I  gave  him  full  credit  for  doing  so,  and  I  only  did  him 
justice.  After  the  delirium  had  left  Monsieur  de  Villar- 
din, his  health  continued  to  improve  every  hour ;  but 
still  it  was  the  most  painful  convalescence  that  ever  I 
beheld.  He  scarcely  spoke  a  word  to  any  one,  and  his 
eyes  roamed  round  those  that  surrounded  his  bed  with 
a  searching  and  anxious  glance,  that  was  terrible  to 
those  who  understood  the  feelings  in  which  it  arose. 
When  he  began  to  speak  again,  it  was  but  one  word  at 
a  time,  and  even  then  he  confined  himself  to  the  name 
of  any  object  that  he  wanted  at  the  moment. 

As  soon  as  the  physician  judged  it  prudent.  Monsieur 
de  Loris  was  brought  into  his  bed-chamber,  and  took 
his  hand  aff"ectionately  :  but  the  duke  turned  his  head 
away,  and  pressed  his  eyes  upon  the  pillows,  as  if  to 
avoid  the  sight  and  all  its  concomitant  ideas.  The 
good  old  count  went  on  to  comfort  him  in  a  kindly  tone, 
but  not  knowing  the  truth,  he  followed  the  most  painful 
track  he  could  pursue,  and  by  addressing  a  -man  who 
had  destroyed  his  own  happiness  as  he  would  have  done 
one  who  suffered  alone  under  the  bereaving  hand  of 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  165 

fate,  he  poured  gall  and  wormwood  into  all  the  conso- 
lations he  oflfered. 

The  shock,  however,  though  terrible,  was  not  with- 
out a  good  effect,  for  it  seemed  to  rouse  the  unhappy- 
duke  from  the  dull  despair  that  overwhelmed  him,  and, 
at  all  events,  it  broke  the  first  dreadful  feelings  of  re- 
turning to  scenes  which  had  each  its  own  peculiar  asso- 
ciations of  agony  to  pour  forth  upon  him. 

Still,  the  day  that  he  first  came  forth  from  his  own 
chamber  was  full  of  misery.  The  sun  was  shining 
through  all  the  windows,  checkering  the  staircases  and 
saloons  with  gay  and  gladsome  light.  Under  the  direc- 
tions of  Father  Ferdinand,  every  thing  had  been  re- 
moved which  had  peculiarly  belonged  to  the  duchess, 
and  alterations  had  been  made,  in  various  ways,  to  break 
in  every  direction  the  chain  of  associations  which  we 
knew  could  alone  prove  painful.  Monsieur  de  Villar- 
din's  eye,  however,  still  wandered  wildly  over  every  ob- 
ject around,  and  I  do  not  know  that  it  was  not  really 
more  distressing  to  him  to  miss  all  the  objects  he  ex- 
pected to  see,  than  it  would  have  been  to  find  them  in 
their  accustomed  places. 

I  heard  him  mutter  to  himself,  "  They  are  all  gone  ! 
they  are  all  gone !"  and  sinking  into  the  fauteuil  in 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  sit  when  in  the  saloon, 
he  covered  his  eyes  with  his  hands,  and  remained  mu- 
sing for  several  minutes.  At  that  moment  the  door  of 
the  room  was  gently  opened,  and  Mademoiselle  de  Vil- 
lardin,  warned  and  persuaded  by  every  means  in  our 
power  to  be  careful  of  what  she  said  and  did,  was  led 
in  by  Monsieur  de  Loris.  The  duke  heard  the  door  open, 
and  withdrawing  his  hand  from  his  eyes,  saw  his  child 
for  the  first  time  since  the  death  of  her  mother.  He 
had  scarcely  been  able  to  reach  the  saloon  with  the  as- 
sistance of  two  people,  but  when  his  eyes  fell  upon  his 
daughter,  he  started  up  without  aid,  sprang  forward,  and 
catching  her  to  his  heart,  burst  into  a  passionate  fit  of 
tears. 

Father  Ferdinand  and  myself  supported  him  to  a  seat, 
but  still  he  held  his  little  girl  in  his  arms,  and  weeping 
bitterly,  every  now  and  then  drew  back  her  head  from 
his  bosom  to  gaze  upon  her  face,  which  that  day  bore 
— or  seamed  to  me  to  bear — a  more  striking  likeness  to 
her  mother  than  ever  I  had  before  remarked.  She  on 
her  part  was  silent,  but  wept  too,  mingling  the  tears 


166  THE    ADVENTURES  OF 

with  which  she  bedewed  her  father's  bosom  with  kisses 
pressed  upon  his  cheek.  The  physician  would  fain  have 
put  an  end  to  such  a  scene,  but  when  he  proposed  to 
remove  the  young  lady,  the  duke  turned  round,  saying 
mildly,  but  firmly,  "  She  must  remain!  It  does  me 
good !" 

I  believe  most  sincerely  that  it  did,  and  certainly  from 
that  moment  his  health  improved  much  more  rapidly 
than  it  had  previously  done.  Each  day  he  regained 
strength,  and  gradually,by  walking  out  upon  the  terrace, 
and  driving  forth  in  a  carriage,  he  acquired  sufficient 
vigour  to  mount  his  horse,  and  thenceforward  might  be 
considered  well,  at  least  in  boay. 

It  was  necessary,  indeed,  that  he  should  recover 
strength,  for  there  were  still  many  painful  things  to  do 
which  could  not  be  much  longer  postponed.  M.  de  Loris 
had  now  been  nearly  a  month  at  the  chateau,  and  was  of 
course  anxious  to  return  to  his  own  dwelling ;  yet,  as 
his  niece  had  brought  to  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  at  her 
marriage,  an  estate  called  Virmont,  in  the  Orleanois, 
which  had  been  settled  upon  her  with  all  the  peculiar 
forms  and  agreements  that  enter  into  a  French  marriage 
contract,  it  became  necessary  to  make  some  arrange- 
ments in  regard  to  this  property,  which  of  course  re* 
verted  entirely  to  her  daughter.  M.  de  Loris  felt  that 
to  speak  long  upon  such  a  subject  would  be  inflicting 
much  pain  upon  both  the  duke  and  himself,  and  therefore 
he  had  procrastinated  for  some  days,  when  suddenly, 
one  morning,  as  we  were  driving  out  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, Monsieur  de  Villardin,  who  had  been  agitated  by 
the  same  feelings,  began  the  conversation  himself,  and 
concluded  it  in  fewer  words  than  it  otherwise  would 
have  required. 

"  Monsieur  de  Loris,"  he  said,  with  a  degree  of  calm- 
ness which  showed  how  he  had  tutored  his  mind  to  the 
point,  "  Ihave  long  thought  of  speaking  to  you  in  regard 
to  Virmont.  Although,  of  course,  1  am  my  beloved 
child's  only  guardian  and  protector,  yet,  under  present 
circumstances,  I  do  not  choose  to  hold  the  property 
which  is  now  hers  any  longer,  even  as  her  guardian. 
It  is  contiguous  to  your  own  land,  and  I  have  therefore 
to  request  that  you  would  kindly  take  charge  of  it,  man- 
age the  rents,  invest  them  to  the  best  advantage,  and 
make  the  whole  over  to  Laura  when  she  marries  or  be- 
comes of  age." 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  J  67 

The  count  made  some  opposition,  although  he  ac- 
knowledged that  the  confidence  of  the  duke  was  highly 
grateful  and  flattering  to  him. 

Monsieur  de  Villardin  sighed  deeply,  but  replied, 
"  You  must,  my  dear  count,  allow  me  to  have  my  will  in 
this  respect.  Accept  the  trust,  I  beseech  you ;  and  as 
we  may  all  feel  very  sure  that  my  remaining  years  will 
be  few,  I  have  named  you  in  some  papers  that  1  drew  up 
yesterday  for  a  still  more  important  charge,  which  I 
must  entreat  you  to  undertake.  It  is  that  of  one  of  the 
guardians  to  my  child  when  I  am  dead." 

The  reply  v/as  such  as  might  be  expected,  but  the 
conversation  ended  in  Monsieur  de  Loris  accepting  both 
the  offices  which  Monsieur  de  Villardin  put  upon  him. 
A  few  days  after  the  necessary  papers  were  brought, 
drawn  up  in  legal  form,  and  having  been  read  in  silence 
by  both  parties,  were  duly  signed.  The  next  morning 
the  Count  de  Loris  left  us,  pouring  upon  Monsieur  de 
Villardin  expressions  of  affection  and  esteem,  every  one 
of  which  went  home  to  his  heart  like  a  dagger.  The 
duke  seemed  relieved  when  he  was  gone ;  but  there 
seemed  still  another  painful  task  to  be  performed ;  at 
least  I  judged  so  from  the  anxious  expression  of  his 
eyes,  as  he  sometimes  turned  them  upon  the  face  of  the 
confessor. 

At  length,  one  morning,  after  walking  for  half  an  hour 
upon  the  terrace,  he  turned  to  Father  Ferdinand,  who,  at 
the  moment,  was  coming  forth  into  the  garden  to  take 
his  customary  stroll  with  me,  and  said,  "  Now,  good 
father,  I  am  ready,  if  you  can  do  me  the  favour." 

"  It  is  one  that  must  never  be  refused,  my  son,"  re- 
plied the  priest ;  "  I  follow  you  :"  and  they  turned  to- 
wards  the  chateau.  Both  had  become  somewhat  paler 
as  they  spoke  ;  and  in  about  two  hours  afterward  I  was 
joined  by  the  priest,  with  a  countenance  on  which  strong 
and  terrible  emotions  had  left  traces  which  could  not  be 
mistaken.  He  tried  to  appear  calm,  indeed,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  a  certain  degree,  by  speaking  for  some  time  of 
indifferent  things.  At  length,  when  he  had  obtained 
command  of  himself,  he  said,  "  In  the  letter  which  you 
wrote  to  me  when  I  was  at  Rennes,  and  which  brought 
me  so  suddenly  back  to  the  chateau,  you  said,  my  son, 
that  you  really  doubted  the  sanity  of  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin, from  the  extraordinary  change  that  had  come  over 
him.     Now  tell  me  truly,  I  beseech  you,  was  that  an 


168  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

expression  hazarded  without  attaching  to  it  its  full 
meaning ;  or  was  it  your  real  conviction  at  the  time  that 
the  mind  of  your  friend  was  unhealthily  affected?  It  is 
of  much  consequence  that  I  should  know." 

"  I  will  tell  you,  my  good  father,  most  sincerely,"  I 
replied,  seeing  that  the  feehngs  of  the  confessor  were  in 
truth  most  deeply  interested ;  "  indeed  1  will  give  you 
an  answer  that  will  show  you  I  speak  without  reserve. 
Did  I  not  believe,  then,  that  during  the  four  or  five  days 
preceding  the  dreadful  accident  which  lately  happened, 
the  mind  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin  was  decidedly  de- 
ranged, I  would  not  stay  in  his  house  another  hour." 

"  It  is  enough,  my  son,  it  is  enough,"  replied  the  priest. 
"  So  thinks  the  physician, — and  so  he  thinks  himself," 
added  the  confessor,  in  a  lower  tone ;  giving  what  he 
said  more  the  appearance  of  a  reflection  addressed  to 
himself  than  to  me.  "  And  yet,"  he  continued,  "  his 
mind  must  have  been  dreadfully  worked  upon  by  others : 
at  least  it  would  seem  so  from  all  that  I  can  hear  in  the 
house." 

"  The  more  reason,  father,"  I  replied,  "  for  supposing 
that  their  irritating  suggestions  had  affected  his  brain. 
People  seldom  go  mad  without  some  cause,  unless  they 
are  very  madly  disposed  indeed." 

The  priest  mused  ;  and,  after  along  pause,  he  replied, 
"  Well,  well,  let  us  always  lean  to  the  side  of  charity. 
We  are  all  too  fallible  to  judge  rigidly." 

I  saw  that  the  fear  of  approaching,  even  in  the  slight- 
est degree,  the  facts  which  had  been  confided  to  him 
under  the  seal  of  confession,  prevented  Father  Ferdinand 
from  speaking  with  me  more  candidly  upon  a  subject 
which  occupied  so  great  a  part  in  the  thoughts  of  both  at 
that  time.  Of  course  I  did  not  press  the  topic,  and  the 
conversation  turned  to  other  matters. 

What  I  had  said  to  him  was  nevertheless  true ;  for 
certainly  had  I  not  believed  that,  for  several  days  before 
the  death  of  Madame  de  Villardin,  the  duke  himself  had 
been  positively  insane,  I  would,  without  hesitation,  have 
restored  to  him  all  his  gifts,  and  would  have  quitted  for 
ever  a  man  to  whom  I  could  not  help  attaching,  in  my 
own  mind,  the  darkest  of  suspicions.  But  his  whole 
previous  conduct  had  so  firmly  impressed  me  with  the 
idea,  that  at  no  period  between  my  return  from  St.  Malo 
and  the  death  of  his  unhappy  wife,  had  he  possessed  the 
complete  command  of  his  own  reason,  that  I  felt  him  to 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  169 

be  more  an  object  of  pity  than  of  censure.  Even  more-^ 
regarding  his  conduct  in  this  light,  and  looking  upon  him 
as  one  whose  happiness  had  been  cast  away  for  ever, 
under  the  influence  of  mental  disease,  all  that  had  oc- 
curred proved  a  strong,  though  mournful  tie,  which 
bound  me  to  him  more  firmly  than  ever ;  and,  when  I 
remembered  the  promise  which  I  had  so  shortly  before 
made  to  this  unhappy  lady  who  was  now  no  more,  I 
determined  that  no  time  nor  circumstances  should  ever 
induce  me  to  quit  entirely  the  child  that  she  had  left,  till 
I  saw  her  hand  given  to  some  one  who  would  have  the 
right  and  power  to  protect  her.  I  say  that  my  determi- 
nation was  not  to  quit  her  entirely,,  because  the  conduct 
of  Monsieur  de  Villardin  towards  me,  since  his  recovery, 
had  been  such,  that  I  knew  not  whether  he  either  desired 
my  longer  abode  with  him,  or  whether  it  was  to  be  upon 
such  terms  as  1  could  now  alone  endure. 

Although  no  son  could  have  attended  upon  a  father 
with  more  care  and  anxiety  than  I  had  done  upon  him, 
yet  he  had  scarcely  addressed  ten  words  to  me  since  his 
convalescence  began.  Those  that  he  had  spoken,  indeed, 
had  always  been  kind  and  afl'ectionate  ;  and  I  had  often 
caught  his  eyes  fixed  upon  me  with  a  look  of  intense 
interest, — mournful,  perhaps  painful,  but  still  full  of  re- 
gard and  feeling.  Nevertheless,  the  strangeness  of  his 
silence,  which  I  ought  to  have  attributed  to  other  causes, 
made  me  anxious  and  unhappy ;  and,  as  I  was  not  a 
person  to  express  any  of  that  loud  indignation  for  ill- 
requited  kindness,  which  is  sure  to  pile  contempt  upon 
ingratitude,  I  frequently  thought  of  asking  his  per^- 
mission,  calmly  and  tranquilly,  but  firmly  and  urgently, 
to  return  to  Paris,  and  to  mingle  in  the  scenes  of  strife 
and  turmoil  which  were  again  beginning  to  agitate  the 
unquiet  capital  of  France. 

I  was  saved,  however,  from  the  pain  which  such  a 
request  would  have  occasioned  to  us  both.  On  the  day 
following  that  in  the  course  of  which  I  had  reason  to 
believe  he  had  relieved  his  bosom  of  the  load  that 
weighed  upon  his  heart,  and  had  poured  forth  both 
his  sorrows  and  his  faults  to  the  ears  of  the  confessor, 
he  beckoned  me  immediately  after  breakfast  towards 
his  library,  and  led  the  way  thither  himself.  1  followed, 
and  closed  the  door ;  and  as  soon  as  I  had  done  so,  he 
put  his  hand  upon  my  shoulder,  and  gazing  in  my  face 
with  an  expression  of  deep  grief,  he  said,  "  Why — why, 

Vol.  L— H 


170  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

my  dear  boy,  did  you  save  my  life  ? — why — why  did  you 
preserve  me  to  daily  sorrow  and  continual  regret  V 

Although  I  was  seldom  destitute  of  a  reply,  his 
question  might  have  been  a  painful  one  to  answer,  had 
not  my  conversations  with  Father  Ferdinand  given  me 
altogether  a  new  view  of  human  life  from  that  which  I 
had  formerly  entertained. 

"My  lord,"  I  answered  boldly,  " every  man,  I  have 
heard,  has  something  to  repent  of  in  this  world,  and  it 
is  always  better  to  have  time  here,  where  repentance 
avails  us,  than  to  go  where  it  is  a  punishment  instead  of 
a  penance." 

"You  say  true, — you  say  true,"  replied  the  duke, 
"  and  I  thank  you  for  the  life  you  have  preserved,  as  well 
as  for  the  kindness  and  the  courage  which  prompted 
and  enabled  you  to  preserve  it."  He  paused  for  a 
moment  thoughtfully,  and  then  proceeded:  "You  have 
thought  me  cold,  unkind,  ungrateful,  since  I  have  re- 
covered life  and  health ;  but  it  has  not  been  so.  I  have 
felt  all  that  you  have  done  for  me  ;  I  have  seen  all  that 
you  have  felt  for  me ;  and  I  have  a  thousand  times 
longed  to  thank  you  for  the  whole ;  but  ever,  when  I 
was  about  to  speak,  all  the  horrible  memories  which 
are  in  your  heart  and  in  mine,  have  risen  up  before  me, 
and  compelled  me  to  silence.  I  have  scarcely  had 
courage  even  to  address  you,  much  less  to  speak  with 
you  on  subjects  connected  with  the  terrible  past." 

Such  an  explanation  was  more  than  sufficient,  and  the 
pain  of  it  once  over,  all  further  difficulty  or  reserve 
between  us  was  at  an  end.  He  spoke  some  time  longer 
with  me  in  the  library;  and  though  he  alluded  but 
vaguely  and  remotely  to  the  past,  yet  he  did  speak  of  it 
more  than  once  with  that  sort  of  lingering  tendency 
which  a  man  always  has  to  return,  in  conversation  with 
others,  to  any  subject  that  occupies  all  his  thoughts 
when  alone.  At  length,  taking  a  key  from  the  table,  he 
said,  "  I  have  a  fearful  task  before  me,  but  one  which  I 
promised  to  execute  myself.  Nevertheless,  I  confess 
my  heart  so  plays  the  coward  with  me,  that  I  am  afraid 
to  enter  those  rooms  alone.  You  must  go  with  me,  at 
least,  as  far  as  the  ante-room,  and  wait  for  me  there  till 
my  task  is  concluded." 

Although  he  did  not  mention  what  rooms  he  meant, 
yet  as  I  had  heard  from  the  old  major-domo  that  Father 
Ferdinand  had,  with  his  own  hands,  closed  and  sealed 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  171 

the  apartments  of  Madame  de  Villardin  immediately 
after  his  arrival  at  the  chateau,  I  easily  divined  that  it 
was  to  those  chambers  that  the  duke  now  alluded. 
i  instantly  prepared  to  follow,  but  still  ventured  to  ask 
whether  he  had  not  better  desire  the  good  priest  to 
accompany  him  in  the  sad  duty  he  was  about  to  per- 
form. 

He  shook  his  head  gloomily,  and  replied,  "  No,  no,  I 
must  go  alone  ;"  and  then,  with  a  pale  cheek  and  waver- 
ing steps,  took  his  way  up  the  great  staircase.  His 
hand  shook  so  fearfully  that  he  could  scarcely  remove 
the  seal,  and  turn  the  key  in  the  lock  of  Madame  de 
Villardin's  chamber-door;  and  sitting  down  in  the  ante- 
room he  paused  for  several  minutes,  in  order  to  gain 
strength  for  the  undertaking.  At  length  he  started  up 
abruptly,  exclaiming,  "  Now !"  and  entering  her  bed- 
room, which  communicated  with  a  dressing-room  on 
the  other  side,  he  closed  the  door  behind  him.  Full  of 
sad  thoughts,  I  stood  gazing  out  of  the  lattice  for  some 
time ;  but  at  the  end  of  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  I 
heard  the  ante-room  door  open,  and  turning  my  head 
round  without  any  noise,  perceived  Madame  Suzette 
stealing  quietly  in,  and  looking  about  her.  As  soon  as 
she  perceived  me  she  halted  ;  and,  with  as  much  abhor- 
rence as  ever  I  felt  towards  any  loathsome  reptile  in  my 
life,  I  walked  forward,  and  taking  her  by  the  arm,  turned 
her  quietly  but  firmly  towards  the  door. 

Thinking,  probably,  that  I  was  there  alone,  she  seemed 
about  to  take  some  noisy  notice  of  my  unceremonious 
ejection  of  her  pretty  person;  but,  pointing  sternly 
towards  the  bed-chamber,  I  whispered,  "  The  duke  is 
there;"  and,  glad  to  get  off  unobserved,  she  tripped 
away  as  quietly  and  speedily  as  possible.  I  kept  my 
silent  and  now  undisturbed  watch  in  the  ante-room  for 
nearly  two  hours,  and  all  seemed  so  still  and  quiet 
within  the  chamber  beyond,  that  I  began  at  length  to 
feel  alarmed  lest  the  excitement  and  agitation  which 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  evidently  experienced  when 
he  entered,  should  have  overpowered  him  in  the  course 
of  his  undertaking. 

He  came  forth,  however,  just  as  I  was  about  to  open 

the  door,  and  was  evidently  calmer  and  more  firm  than 

when  he  had  left   me,  though  I  should  say  that  the 

expression  of  deep,  stern  grief,  which  had  now  becom« 

H2 


172  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

habitual  to  his  countenance,  was,  if  any  thing,  a  shade 
deeper  than  before. 

"  Did  I  not  hear  another  step  than  yours  about  an  hour 
ago?"  were  the  first  words  he  spoke.  I  rephed  in  the 
affirmative,  and  told  him  at  once  who  it  was  that  had 
intruded.  He  looked  at  me  for  a  moment  or  two  with 
a  sort  of  inquiring  glance,  as  if  he  sought  to  read  some- 
thing in  my  heart  ere  he  himself  spoke. 

"  Suzette  !"  he  said,  thoughtfully ;  "  I  have  been  think- 
ing of  keeping  her  here  to  take  charge  of  Laura." 

My  feelings  burst  forth  whether  I  would  or  not,  and 
I  exclaimed,  "  What !  give  the  care  of  the  daughter  to 
her  who  calumniated  the  mother !" 

The  retort  was  so  sudden  and  so  unexpected  that  the 
duke  started,  and  gazed  at  me  for  a  moment,  with  a 
look  in  which  I  thought  I  could  trace  no  slight  anger  at 
my  rash  exclamation.  I  had  spoken  the  truth,  however, 
though  I  had  spoken  it  too  boldly  and  unadvisedly,  and 
I  was  not  to  be  abashed  while  such  a  conviction  was  at 
my  heart ;  but  casting  down  my  eyes,  I  waited  calmly 
for  the  rebuke  that  I  doubted  not  was  to  follow.  But 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  paused,  and  for  several  moments 
uttered  not  a  word  ;  till  at  length,  grasping  my  arm,  he 
said  in  a  low  but  emphatic  tone, — 

"  However  you  made  the  discovery,  young  man,  you 
say  true.  She  did  calumniate  her  mistress !  For 
though  there  is  still  much  to  be  accounted  for,  which, 
probably,  will  never  in  this  world  receive  an  explanation, 
yet  I  were  worse  than  base  to  doubt  the  proofs  of  virtue 
and  of  love  with  which  those  cabinets  have  furnished 
me.  I  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  my  own  head  by  yielding 
to  the  conviction ;  I  inflict  the  tortures  of  hell  already 
on  my  heart  by  making  the  acknowledgment ;  but  I 
own  before  you,  who  probably  have  seen  more  deeply 
into  my  weakness  and  my  madness  than  any  human 
being,  that  I  did  that  beloved  girl  false  and  shameful 
wrong,  and  that  from  my  soul  1  believe  her — now 
that  it  is  too  late — to  have  been  as  pure  as  purity 
itself." 

He  trembled  as  he  spoke  with  the  very  energy  of  his 
feelings,  though  every  tone  was  as  low  as  a  lover's 
whisper,  and  when  he  had  concluded,  he  sank  down  into 
a  seat,  and  gazed  at  vacancy,  giving  way,  I  am  sure,  to 
all  that  longing,  burning  thirst  to  recall  the  past,  which 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  173 

every  one  at  some  time  feels  amid  the  errors  and  the 
faults  of  life. 

It  was  long  ere  he  recovered  himself;  but  when  he 
did  so  he  called  my  attention  to  a  letter  that  he  held  in 
his  hand,  saying,  that  it  concerned  me  as  well  as  him- 
self. The  hand-writing  was  that  of  Madame  de  Villar- 
din,  and  the  epistle  covered  two  sheets  of  paper,  one 
of  which  he  gave  me  to  peruse,  after  having  made 
an  ineffectual  effort  to  read  it  to  me  himself.  I  re- 
member the  contents  almost  word  for  word,  and  put 
down  here  that  part  which  most  interested  me  at  the 
time. 

"  I  mean  not  to  reproach  you,  my  lord,"  it  went  on, 
after  a  broken  sentence  at  the  top  of  the  page,  "  far,  far 
from  it ;  and  I  only  thus  assert  my  innocence  of  even 
one  evil  thought ;  1  only  thus  attempt  to  prove  that  I 
could  not  have  been  guilty  ;  I  only  thus  depict  all  that  I 
have  suffered,  in  order  that  you  may  love  our  children 
when  I  am  dead,  and  grant  me,  in  dying,  a  few  not  very 
burdensome*  requests.  I  repeat  again,  that  without 
knowing  why,  1  am  convinced  that  I  shall  not  survive 
many  months.  Nor  does  this  conviction  arise  in  the 
common  terror  of  women  in  my  present  situation.  On 
the  contrary,  I  fear  not  to  die ;  and  now  that  I  am  de- 
prived of  your  affection,  I  have  nothing  to  attach  me  to 
the  world  but  the  dear  child  that  we  both  love,  and  the 
one  which  is  yet  unborn.  Still  I  feel  that  death  is  not 
far  from  me  ;  and  therefore  these  lines,  which  will  never 
meet  your  eye  till  I  am  dead,  may  well  be  looked  upon 
as  my  dying  words.  Oh  then,  my  lord,  I  beseech  you 
to  love  the  children  that  I  leave  you  with  tender  and 
equal  affection ;  and  should  a  regret  at  any  time  cross 
your  mind  for  sorrows  inflicted  on  their  mother,  make 
me  atonement  by  your  affection  for  them.  If  ever  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  be  permitted  to  watch  over  those 
they  loved  while  living,  my  soul  shall  follow  you  and 
our  children  through  existence,  and  every  kind  word  or 
deed  towards  them  shall  be  received  as  wiping  away 
some  unmerited  reproach  or  some  harsh  act  towards 
myself. 

"  My  next  request  is,  that  you  would  yourself  confirm 
and  sanction  an  engagement  which  I  caused  the  young 
Englishman,  who  has  since  saved  our  daughter  from  a 
watery  grave,  to  enter  into  in  regard  to  our  children. 
Your  fate,  my  lord,  is  of  course  uncertain;  and  how 


174  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

long  you  may  be  permitted  to  guard  and  protect  them 
no  one  can  tell.  I  have  heard  much  of  this  young  gen- 
tleman and  his  history,  both  from  yourself  and  from 
others,  and  I  have  myself  seen  that  he  is  alw^ays  prompt 
to  succour  and  defend,  and  that  his  knowledge  of  the 
world,  in  all  its  changes  and  disguises,  is  extraordinary 
for  one  so  young.  As  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he 
will  grow  up  with  our  children  as  an  elder  brother,  I 
have  made  him  promise  that  he  will  never  wholly  leave 
them,  but  will  always  come  forward  to  give  them  aid 
and  assistance,  wherever  you  may  be,  whenever  they 
may  need  his  help.  In  making  this  request  to  him,  I 
felt  sure  that  I  could  not  be  doing  wrong,  as  the  person 
whom  I  besought  to  undertake  the  task,  and  whom  I 
entreated,  while  you  acted  towards  my  children  as  a 
father,  to  act  towards  them  as  a  brother,  is  one  in  whom 
you  yourself  seem  to  place  the  fullest  confidence  ;  but  I 
have  since  been  confirmed  in  what  I  have  done  by  the 
opinion  of  our  excellent  friend  and  spiritual  guide, 
Father  Ferdinand,  who  not  only  assures  me  that  this 
young  gentleman's  goodness  of  heart  and  rectitude  of 
judgment  may  be  depended  on,  but  undertakes  boldly, 
that  in  case  of  my  death  you  shall  sanction  my  conduct, 
induce  him  to  repeat  his  promise,  and  give  him  every 
opportunity  of  executing  it,  both  during  your  life  and 
after  your  death. 

"  My  requests,  I  think,  are  now  all  made,  except  that 
you  would  bestow  upon  my  servants  the  sums  which  I 
have  written  dov/n  upon  the  paper  attached  to  this 
letter,  and  that  you  would  assign  to  the  convent  of  Ur- 
sulines  at  Juvigny  the  thousand  crowns  of  revenue, 
which,  with  your  consent,  I  promised  them  on  the  birth 
of  our  daughter,  and  which  has  never  been  formally 
made  over  to  them.  Besides  this,  I  trust  that  you  will 
give  a  thousand  livres  to  the  church  of  St.  Peter  at 
Rennes,  to  be  expended  in  masses  for  my  soul ;  and,  as 
my  last  request,  I  beseech  you  to  think  of  me  kindly, 
and  when  I  am  dead,  to  do  that  justice  to  my  memory 
which  you  have  not  done  to  my  faith  and  honour  while 
living." 

I  could  well  conceive,  as  I  read  these  words,  how 
poignantly  they  must  have  gone  home  to  the  heart  of 
Monsieur  de  Villardin;  and  even  as  I  read  them  in 
silence  before  him  I  could  see  from  his  eye, — which 
was  fixed  upon  my  face,  scanning  its  expression  from 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  175 

line  to  line, — that  he  again  mentally  ran  over  all  which 
that  paper  contained,  and  inflicted  on  his  own  heart 
every  gentle  word  as  the  most  severe  of  punish- 
ments. 

"  Do  you  undertake  the  task  V  he  demanded,  when  I 
had  done. 

"  I  have  already  done  so,  my  lord,"  I  replied,  "  and  I 
never  forget  my  word." 

"  Your  task  may  become  a  strange  and  a  difficult  one," 
he  said,  musing ;  "  but  never  mind,"  he  added,  abruptly, 
and  at  the  same  time  rising,  "  whatever  comes  of  it,  so 
it  shall  be.  I  on  my  part  promise,  before  heaven  and 
before  you,  on  my  hope  of  pardon,  and  on  my  honour 
as  a  man,  to  give  you  every  means  of  executing  what 
you  have  undertaken,  and  to  take  such  measures  as 
will  secure  you  the  same  opportunity  should  I  die.  She 
said  right,"  he  continued,  holding  out  his  hand  to  me, 
"she  said  right,  poor  girl;  you  do  possess  my  confi- 
dence most  fully  ;  none  ever  possessed  it  so  much ;  and 
would  to  God,  would  to  God  that  you  had  possessed 
it  more !  Oh,  had  I  but  trusted  your  words !  Oh 
God !  oh  God !  that  it  should  now  be  all  beyond  re- 
call !"  and  he  groaned  bitterly  under  the  torture  of 
remorse. 

"  Tell  me,"  he  cried,  after  a  long  pause,  "  tell  me  !  do 
you  know  of  any  cause  which  that  woman — that  Suzette 
had  to  hate  her  mistress "?" 

"  Personally  I  know  of  none,"  I  answered  ;  "  but,  if 
I  mistake  not,  good  old  Jerome  Laborde  could  assign 
sutficient  reasons  for  all  her  malice." 

"I  will  inquire!"  he  rejoined,  "  I  will  inquire !"  and 
carefully  locking  the  doors,  he  turned  away  from  the 
apartments  of  his  dead  wife. 

The  agitation  and  exertion  he  had  gone  through,  how- 
ever, had  been  too  much  for  him ;  and  ere  he  reached 
his  library,  towards  which  his  steps  were  directed  in 
the  first  instance,  he  was  obliged  to  turn  to  his  own 
chamber,  and  lie  down  to  rest  for  the  remainder  of  the 
day.  The  next  morning  early,  good  old  Jerome  La- 
borde was  summoned  to  his  master's  presence,  and  I 
fully  believe,  in  his  fright — for  he  held  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin  in  great  awe — he  would  either  have  prevaricated 
so  desperately  as  not  to  obtain  credence  for  his  tale,  or 
he  would  have  denied  any  knowledge  of  Suzette's  be- 
haviour altogether.     I  luckily,  however,  saw  him  before 


176  THE    ADTENTURES   OF 

he  went,  and  exhorted  him  to  tell  the  whole  truth  ex- 
actly as  it  was ;  and  I  conclude  he  did  so,  though  I  was 
not  present. 

Whatever  took  place,  the  result  was  but  just ;  for  no 
sooner  was  his  conference  over  with  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin,  than  the  good  major-domo  came  forth,  armed 
with  authority  to  send  forth  Madame  Suzette,  with  all 
her  moveables,  without  allowing  her  to  sleep  another 
night  in  the  house. 

Some  time  was,  indeed,  consumed  in  her  preparations ; 
but  as  I  had  notice  from  Jerome  of  the  order  he  had  re- 
ceived, and  I  intended  to  spend  the  greater  part  of  the 
day  in  my  own  apartments,  I  certainly  did  not  expect 
to  see  Suzette  more.  1  was  astonished,  however,  by 
the  door  of  my  little  saloon  being  thrown  uncerenioni« 
ously  open  about  two  hours  after ;  and  in  walked  the 
soubrette,  with  an  air  of  determined  effrontery  which  I 
have  seldom  seen  surpassed  in  man  or  woman. 

"  I  have  come.  Monsieur  I'Anglais,"  she  said,  making 
me  a  mock  courtesy,  "  to  take  my  leave  of  you  before 
I  go,  and  to  thank  you  for  all  your  kindness.  I  am  not 
unaware  of  all  your  good  offices,  and  as  I  shall  not  in  all 
probability  be  very  far  off,  I  shall  take  good  care  to  re- 
pay them.  I  do  not  doubt  that  some  opportunity  will 
occur  ;  in  the  mean  time,  farewell !"  and  without  wait- 
ing any  reply  she  walked  out  of  the  room,  leaving  all  the 
doors  open  behind  her  as  she  went. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

As  it  is  not  so  much  the  history  of  other  people  that 
I  am  writing  as  my  own,  I  must  now  speak  for  a  few 
minutes  of  myself,  and  of  all  that  had  been  going  on  du- 
ring some  years  in  the  little  world  of  my  own  bosom. 
During  the  last  six  months  a  greater  change  had  taken 
place  in  my  mind  and  my  character  than  I  remember  to 
have  felt  at  any  other  period  of  my  hfe, — though  I  sup- 
pose that  there  is  no  epoch  in  man's  existence,  when  his 
feelings  and  disposition  maybe  considered  as  so  irrevo- 
cably fixed  as  to  be  insusceptible,  during  the  rest  of  his 
days,  of  change  or  modification.    The  original  fabric  of 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  177 

the  mind,  of  course,  remains  the  same ;  but — as  educa- 
tion shares  with  nature  in  the  character  of  each  human 
being,  and  as  hfe  is  but  a  continual  education, — I  feel 
convinced  that  we  go  on  altering  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave.  The  tree  grows  up  and  spreads,  and  certainly 
remains  forever  the  ash,  the  elm,  or  the  oak  that  it  first 
sprouted  from  the  ground ;  but  its  form,  and  appearance, 
and  size,  and  strength,  and  beauty,  are  changed  by 
winds,  and  storms,  and  circumstances,  and  accidents, 
and  position,  and  time  ;  and  so,  I  am  convinced,  it  is 
with  the  human  heart.  We  are  all  change  throughout 
our  being  ;  and  were  it  not  for  a  few  remaining  traits,  a 
few  slight  traces,  of  early  predilections  and  original  char- 
acter, it  would  be  very  difficult  for  the  old  man  or  the 
man  of  middle  age  to  prove  even  to  himself,  from  the 
state  of  his  own  mind,  his  identity  with  the  young  man 
or  the  boy.  The  alterations  which  had  taken  place  in 
my  own  mind  and  feelings,  however,  within  the  last  six 
months,  had  been  so  great  and  rapid,  that  they  were  even 
remarkable  to  myself,  and  now  form,  in  memory,  an 
epoch  from  Avhich  I  date  a  new  and  distinct  course  of 
being.  My  corporeal  frame,  it  is  true,  was  also  under- 
going a  change,  and  rising  rapidly,  almost  prematurely, 
towards  manhood;  but  my  mind  was  also  affected,  in  a 
manner  totally  distinct  and  apart,  by  the  scenes  in  which 
I  mingled,  by  the  persons  with  whom  I  conversed,  and 
by  the  deep  feelings,  strong  passions,  and  awful  events, 
in  all  of  which  I  took  a  part.  Scarcely  a  year  before, 
scenes  of  bloodshed  and  slaughter,  energetic  attempts 
and  dangerous  enterprises,  had  passed  around  me  as  a 
sort  of  pageant  in  which  I  acted  my  part,  without  any 
deep  or  lasting  impression — without  any  great  thought 
or  excited  passion.  It  had  been  all  a  sort  of  youthful 
sport  to  me,  which — although  I  suffered  some  inconve- 
niences, felt  some  sorrows,  and  encountered  many  dan- 
gers— was  upon  the  whole  more  a  matter  of  amusement 
than  of  pain.  My  first  deep  grief  was  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  my  father.  My  first  strongly  roused-passion 
was  the  thirst  for  vengeance  upon  the  man  that  had  slain 
him.  After  that  came  my  connexion  with  Lord  Mas- 
terton,  and  certainly  the  love  and  affection  that  I  felt 
towards  him,  and  the  interest  I  took  in  his  fate  and  in 
that  of  the  Lady  Emily,  prepared  the  way  for  what  I 
was  now  feehng :  but  still  it  was  all  very,  very  different 
from  my  intense  participation  in  the  passions  and  the  sor- 
H3 


178  THE    ADrENTFRES    OT 

rows  of  Monsieur  and  Madame  de  Villardin,  and  eqttally 
so  from  the  sensation  of  gloom  and  awe,  which  the  sad 
events  that  were  passing  around  me  impressed  upon  my 
mind.  The  effect  of  my  conversations  with  Father  Fer- 
dinand I  have  already  related;  and  under  the  influence  of 
the  whole  together,  I  found  my  heart  losing  rapidly  its 
boyish  lightness,  and  becoming,  day  by  day,  susceptible 
of  more  deep  and  powerful  sympathies  than  I  ever 
dreamed  it  was  possible  to  feel.  If  I  may  use  the  ex- 
pression, during  the  last  six  months  I  had  been  educated 
in  the  school  of  dark  and  vehement  passions,  and  the 
lessons  that  I  had  received  had  been  at  least  so  far  in- 
structive as  to  teach  me,  whatever  I  felt,  to  feel  deeply. 
The  boldness  and  decision  of  my  conduct  in  former 
times  had  proceeded  both  from  the  promptness  of  deter- 
mination which  my  father  had  inculcated,  and  from  the 
habit  which  I  had  acquired  amid  scenes  of  turbulence 
and  confusion,  of  valuing  human  life  and  all  connected 
with  it  as  a  mere  nothing :  but  now,  although  1  had 
learned  to  estimate  almost  every  thing  differently,  yet, 
by  having  been  taught  to  feel  a  deep  and  personal  interest 
in  all  with  whom  I  became  connected,  I  had  acquired  a 
new  and  stronger  motive  for  exercising  the  same  promp- 
titude in  all  circumstances,  and  employing  even  more 
vigorously  than  before  all  the  best  energies  of  my  mind. 
Such  had  become  my  feelings  at  the  time  when  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  recovered  ;  and,  even  in  watching  by 
his  sick  bed,  I  had  experienced  the  greatest  difference 
between  the  sensations  which  I  then  felt  towards  him,, 
and  those  which  I  remembered  having  undergone  in  at- 
tending upon  Lord  Masterton  under  somewhat  similar 
cricumstances.  For  Lord  Masterton,  indeed,  I  had  felt 
as  much  affection  and  more  esteem  ^  but  towards  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin,  pity  and  regret,  and  many  other 
mingled  sensations,  rendered  my  feelings  of  in- 
terest far  more  deep  and  intense.  There  were  memories 
and  ties  between  us  that  could  never  be  broken  ;  there 
was  the  confidence  of  dark  and  secret  acts  that  could 
never  be  forgotten — there  was  many  a  deed  of  kind- 
ness and  of  feeling,  too,  which  no  conduct  towards 
others  could  cancel  as  regarded  myself ;  and  even  my 
very  suspicions  in  respect  to  the  last  terrible  catastrophe 
were  in  themselves  a  source  of  mournful,  painful,  but 
profound  interest. 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  -179 

Such,  then,  as  I  have  said,  were  my  feelings  when 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  recovered  ;  and  if  I  had  sympa- 
thized with  him  even  under  his  madness  and  his  errors, 
how  much  more  was  my  affection  increased  towards 
him  by  the  conduct  that  he  subsequently  pursued  !  The 
deep  grief,  the  bitter  remorse,  the  stern  self-condemna- 
tion which  he  evidently  felt,  increased  my  esteem  with- 
out diminishing  my  interest ;  and  his  conduct  to  myself, 
which  I  have  related  in  the  last  chapter,  scarcely  grati- 
fied me  so  much,  I  confess,  as  his  contemptuous  dis- 
missal of  her  who  had  traduced  his  injured  wife. 

The  absence  of  Madame  Suzette  was  most  indubitably 
a  relief  to  the  whole  house,  with  the  exception,  perhaps, 
of  one  person  in  it.  Even  Mademoiselle  de  Villardin, 
young  as  she  was,  seemed  to  take  a  part  in  the  general 
satisfaction ;  for  she  had  already,  though  why  I  know 
not,  acquired  a  distaste  to  the  soubrette,  which  had  been 
strongly  apparent  even  before  her  mother's  death,  as 
well  as  a  partiality  for  the  duchess's  second  woman, 
Lise,  who  now  became  the  young  lady's  principal 
attendant. 

The  departure  of  Suzette  was  followed  close  by  that 
of  another  person,  who,  though  not  so  generally  dis- 
liked in  the  household,  was  but  little  more  amiable, 
at  least  in  my  eyes,  than  the  soubrette  herself.  This 
was  Gaspard  de  Belleville  ;  but  it  would  seem  that  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  had  various  motives  for  not  dismiss- 
ing him  at  once  from  his  family  with  the  same  uncere- 
monious decision  which  he  had  evinced  towards  the 
woman;  and,  therefore,  waited  for  an  opportunity  of 
placing  him  in  a  situation,  where  the  road  to  honour  and 
distinction  was  open  to  him,  if  he  chose  to  follow  it. 

The  first  occasion  that  presented  itself  also  gave  rise 
to  a  temporary  separation  between  Monsieur  de  Villar- 
din and  myself,  and  may  require  some  farther  explana- 
tion than  could  be  afforded  by  a  mere  detail  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  took  place  at  the  chateau.  When 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  quitted  Paris  in  haste,  he  had 
left  the  regency  triumphant.  The  parliament  had  be- 
come the  devoted  slave  of  the  court.  The  generals  had 
made  their  peace.  The  young  king,  the  queen-mother, 
and  the  cardinal,  had  entered  Paris,  and  regained  greater 
power  than  ever ;  and  the  only  shadow  of  an  independ- 
ent faction  that  remained  consisted  in  the  union  of  the 
lower  classes,  led  and  headed  by  the  Cardinal  de  Retz 


180  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

and  the  Duke  of  Beaufort.  Mazarin  ruled  every  thing^; 
but  he  soon  began  to  find  that  a  friend,  to  whose  services 
he  owed  every  thing,  might  be  more  difficult  to  manage 
than  even  an  enemy.  The  Prince  de  Conde  had  re- 
stored him  to  authority,  and  brought  back  the  court  in 
triumph:  but,  young,  vehement,  and  hasty,  he  con- 
sidered his  claims  as  inexhaustible,  and  the  slightest 
opposition  he  looked  upon  as  an  insult.  Supported  by 
his  brother-in-law  the  Duke  de  Longueville,  by  his 
brother  the  Prince  de  Conti,  and  a  number  of  the  first 
nobles  of  the  land,  he  soon  aimed  at  governing  the  state, 
opposed  the  court  in  all  its  proceedings,  dictated  to  the 
regent,  and  insulted  the  minister.  The  crafty  Italian, 
however,  now  feeling  himself  more  secure,  determined 
at  once  to  coalesce  with  his  former  enemies,  in  order  to 
punish  one,  who,  from  his  protector,  had  changed  into 
his  tyrant.  To  the  party  of  the  Fronde,  led  by  the  Car- 
dinal de  Retz,  the  great  Conde  was,  for  the  time,  as 
much  an  object  of  hate  and  jealousy  as  he  was  to  Maza- 
rin himself;  and,  for  the  purpose  of  revenging  upon 
him  the  former  defeats  of  the  Parisians,  De  Retz  will- 
ingly joined  with  the  minister,  for  whom  he  entertained 
the  most  thorough  contempt.  Taken  by  surprise  in  the 
very  palace  itself,  the  Princes  of  Conde  and  Conti,  and 
the  Duke  de  Longueville,  were  arrested  by  the  captain 
of  the  queen's  guards,  and  were  hurried  oflf  as  fast  as 
possible  to  the  castle  of  Vincennes.  Terror  immediately 
seized  upon  all  their  partizans,  and  one-half  the  nobility 
of  France  fled  from  Paris  on  the  day  of  their  arrest. 
Mary  de  Bourbon,  Duchess  of  Longueville,  breathing 
indignation  against  the  enemy  of  her  brothers  and  her 
husband,  made  her  escape  into  Normandy,  accompanied 
by  about  sixty  horsemen,  and  declared  that  she  would 
once  more  raise  the  standard  of  civil  war.  The  Duke 
de  Bouillon  fled  towards  the  south  with  the  same  pur- 
pose ;  the  Marechal  de  Luxembourg  took  the  way  to 
Burgundy ;  and  the  celebrated  Turenne  himself,  pro- 
ceeding into  Champagne,  instantly  avowed  himself  the 
partizan  of  the  princes,  and  levied  troops  for  their 
deliverance. 

Though  such  was  the  general  feeling  of  the  principal 
nobles  of  the  French  court,  very  different,  indeed,  were 
the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  Paris  upon  the  arrest 
of  the  princes.  Led  by  De  Retz  and  Beaufort,  and  re- 
membering the  insults  and  defeats  which  Conde  had 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  181 

inflicted  upon  them,  the  citizens  of  the  capital  could 
hardly  find  means  sufficient  to  express  their  joy  at  the 
indignity  offered  to  the  greatest  man  of  the  country. 
Shouts  and  songs  signalized  his  downfall.  Bonfires 
blazed  at  every  corner.  Even  the  noxious  minister 
himself  was  enthusiastically  applauded  for  his  ingrati- 
tude to  his  deliverer  and  protector  ;  and  every  one  de- 
clared that  after  this  act  the  cardinal  himself  was  no 
longer  a  Mazarin. 

Various  rumours  of  these  occurrences,  which  had 
taken  place  early  in  the  year,  had  reached  us  in  our  re- 
tirement at  Dumont ;  but  I  need  not  tell  the  reader  that 
we  had  quite  sufficient  matter  in  the  events  of  our  pri- 
vate life  to  occupy  all  our  thoughts.  Even  had  it  not 
been  so,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin  would  have  avoided  taking  any  part  in  the  civil 
dissensions  of  the  time,  as  he  might  have  found  some 
difficulty  in  choosing  the  party  to  which  he  would  give 
his  support.  Bound  by  ties  of  intimate  regard  to  the 
Prince  de  Conde,  he  felt,  of  course,  anxious  for  his 
liberation;  and  although  he  had  opposed  the  prince 
himself  in  the  cause  of  the  parliament,  he  was  naturally 
of  a  loyal  disposition.  It  is  true  that,  like  all  the  rest 
of  the  world  at  that  time,  he  was  destined  to  change  his 
party  more  than  once,  but  beyond  doubt  his  own  feelings 
naturally  led  him  towards  the  court.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, in  all  probability,  he  would,  as  I  have  said, 
have  remained  neuter,  notwithstanding  that  continual 
desire  for  activity  which  Lord  Langleigh  had  noticed  at 
the  time  I  was  first  introduced  to  him  ;  but  about  the 
period  of  which  I  speak,  an  application  was  made  to 
him,  which — coming  as  it  did  at  a  moment  when  any 
sort  of  employment  offered  the  prospect  of  relief  from 
those  bitter  and  consuming  thoughts  that  preyed  upon 
him, — proved  irresistible. 

About  three  days  after  the  dismissal  of  Madame  Su- 
zette,  I  was  riding  by  the  side  of  the  duke  in  one  of  the 
roads  leading  direct  to  the  chateau,  when  we  were  sud- 
denly encountered  by  a  horseman  coming  at  full  speed, 
who  paused  and  drew  up  his  horse  as  soon  as  he  per- 
ceived our  party.  Singling  out  Monsieur  de  Villardin, 
he  at  once  rode  up  to  him,  and  delivered  a  sealed  packet, 
which  was  received  with  that  sort  of  listless  air  which 
a  combination  of  sickness  and  despondency  had  left  be- 


182  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

hind  upon  the  duke,  who  demanded  carelessly,  "  From 
whom  V 

"  From  the  Princess  de  Conde,  and  the  Dukes  of 
Bouillon  and  Rochefoucault,"  rephed  the  courier. 

Three  names  so  friendly  to  his  ears  caused  Monsieur 
de  Villardin  to  show  a  greater  degree  of  interest  than 
he  had  done  at  first ;  and,  turning  his  horse,  he  bade  the 
messenger  follow,  and  rode  back  to  the  chateau.  After 
dismounting,  he  retired  to  read  his  letters  alone ;  and, 
as  our  proposed  ride  was  thus  brought  to  an  end,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  join  Father  Ferdinand,  whom  I  had  seen 
walking  in  the  park  as  we  passed. 

1  strolled  up  and  down  the  different  alleys  with  him 
for  nearly  an  hour ;  and  though,  of  course,  the  deep 
shadow  of  the  past  still  overhung  us  both,  our  conversa- 
tion was  lighter  than  usual ;  and  the  arrival  of  the  mes- 
senger from  the  Princess  de  Conde  furnished  us  with  a 
subject  which  soon  led  us  to  the  political  events  of  the 
day.  With  these  Father  Ferdinand  was  much  better 
acquainted  than  myself ;  and,  in  his  brief  but  perspicuous 
manner,  he  gave  me  a  clear  view  of  all  that  had  been 
lately  passing  in  the  capital.  The  detail  was  over,  and 
we  were  moralizing  upon  the  facts,  when  a  servant  ap- 
proached in  breathless  haste,  telling  me  that  he  and 
several  of  his  fellows  had  been  seeking  me  every  where, 
as  the  duke  had  demanded  to  see  me  some  time  before. 
I  followed  at  once,  and  found  Monsieur  de  Villardin  in 
his  library  with  the  letters  still  before  him. 

"  Here  are  important  tidings,  and  important  requests," 
he  said,  pointing  to  the  papers  as  I  entered ;  "  and, 
among  other  things  to  which  they  give  rise,  there  is  an 
expedition  for  you  to  perform,  if  you  will  undertake  it." 
He  looked  up  as  he  spoke,  for  my  reply ;  and  I  answered, 
that  any  thing  with  which  he  might  think  fit  to  charge 
me,  I  should  feel  honoured  in  performing ;  and  he  thus 
went  on  : — 

"  No,  no ;  you  must  follow  your  own  judgment,  when 
you  have  heard  what  it  is,  John  Marston.  There  may 
be  danger  in  the  case,  my  boy ;  and  certainly  some 
fatigue  and  exertion  must  be  expended  on  the  task. 
Tell  me  first  what  you  know  of  the  events  which  have 
lately  occurred  in  the  capital.  Are  you  aware  that  the 
Prince  de  Conde  and  his  brother,  as  well  as  Monsieur 
de  Longueville,  are  both  in  prison  at  Vincennes  V 

I  replied,  that  I  was  well  aware  of  the  facts  he  men- 


JOHN  MARSTON  HALL.  183 

tioned,  and  added  several  others  which  I  had  learned 
both  from  general  rumour,  and  from  the  more  correct 
account  of  Father  Ferdinand. 

"  Well,  then,  you  know  fully  sufficient  to  judge  of  the 
risk,"  replied  Monsieur  de  Villardin.  "  You  can  easily 
conceive  that  this  notorious  piece  of  injustice,  com- 
mitted in  the  case  of  three  such  distinguished  persons, 
has  set  all  France  in  a  flame  ;  and  almost  every  man  of 
honourable  feeling  is  now  putting  his  foot  in  the  stirrup 
to  compel  the  cardinal  to  liberate  the  princes.  Mon- 
sieur de  Bouillon  here  informs  me,  that  the  cause  in 
Guyenne  is  in  the  most  hopeful  state  ;  and  adjures  me, 
both  by  my  regard  for  him  and  by  my  regard  for  the 
Prince  de  Conde,  to  join  him  immediately  with  what 
force  I  can  collect. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Princess  de  Conde,  while  mak- 
ing a  similar  request,  does  not  conceal  that,  by  the  in- 
fluence used  in  Paris,  she  trusts  to  see  her  husband  at 
liberty  in  a  few  weeks.  Now,  as  the  only  circumstance 
which  could  induce  me  to  join  the  party  of  the  princes 
would  be  their  continued  imprisonment,  I  much  desire, 
without  calling  attention  upon  myself,  to  ascertain  the 
real  state  of  the  negotiations  in  Paris." 

He  then  explained  to  me,  that  it  was  his  wish  I  should 
instantly  set  out  for  the  capital,  and  conferring  with 
Gourville — an  attendant  of  the  Duke  de  Rochefoucault, 
then  in  Paris,  employed  in  endeavouring  to  eff"ect  the 
liberation  of  the  princes, — that  I  should  make  myself 
fully  acquainted  with  ever}^  particular  of  their  situation. 
At  the  same  time  he  proposed  to  send  Gaspard  de 
Belleville  to  the  Duke  de  Bouillon  and  the  Princess  de 
Conde,  charged  with  a  message  to  the  purport  that  he 
would  join  them  at  the  end  of  three  weeks,  if  he  found 
that  the  princes  were  not  likely  to  be  liberated  within 
a  month. 

Of  course,  I  willingly  undertook  the  task ,-  and  I  could 
plainly  see  also  that  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  although  he 
was  unwilling  to  commit  himself  again  with  the  court, 
was  secretly  delighted  with  the  prospect  of  once  more 
entering  upon  an  active  course  of  life,  which,  by  con- 
stant employment,  would  afford  the  means  of  withdraw- 
ing his  thoughts  from  all  the  painful  subjects  on  which 
they  now  rested.  Eagerly  and  rapidly  he  drew  up  a 
letter  to  Gourville,  bidding  him  confide  entirely  in  me ; 


184  THE   ADVENTURES    OF 

and,  having  given  it  to  me,  he  made  me  remark  that  he 
had  written  on  the  back,  "  By  the  hands  of  Monsieur  de 
Juvigny." 

"  You  must,  on  no  accomit,"  he  added, "  appear  as  a 
foreigner,  which  in  Paris  v^ould  instantly  call  upon  you 
a  degree  of  attention  that  is  to  be  avoided  by  all  means. 
You  have  now  no  longer  the  slightest  accent,  except, 
indeed  it  be  a  touch  of  the  patois  of  Bretagne  ;  which, 
however,  will  the  more  confirm  the  Parisians  in  the 
belief  that  you  are  a  Frenchman,  and  you  may  boldly 
pass  yourself  as  a  Breton  even  upon  Gourville  himself. 
I  must  furnish  you,  however,  with  plenty  of  that  golden 
oil  which  makes  all  doors  turn  easily  upon  their  hinges ; 
and,  remember,  spare  no  expense  to  reach  Paris  soon, 
and  to  return  quickly  ;  for  every  hour  spent  upon  the 
road  is  lost  to  better  purposes.  Not  so,  however,  with 
your  inquiries  :  let  them  be  diligent  and  minute  ;  do 
not  come  away  without  knowing  every  thing  that  can 
be  known ;  and  remember,  that  should  fortune,  which 
has  been  favourable  to  you  in  many  instances,  put  it  in 
your  power  to  aid  or  serve  the  Prince  de  Conde,  you 
have  my  strongest  injunction  to  do  so." 

Whether  he  suspected  that  such  would,  indeed,  prove 
the  case,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  he  three  times  spoke  of 
the  chance  of  my  serving  the  prince  as  not  impossible, 
and  reiterated  his  charge  to  take  advantage  of  it,  if  it  did 
occur.  He  then  added  a  great  many  cautions  and  ex- 
planations for  the  direction  of  my  conduct,  and  gave  me 
a  larger  sum  of  money  than  ever  I  had  possessed  before. 
To  all  this  he  joined  a  number  of  billets  of  introduction 
to  different  persons  of  his  acquaintance  in  Paris,  con- 
ceived in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  To  Monsieur  de . 

"  Know,  and  put  full  confidence  in  my  young  friend, 
Monsieur  de  Juvigny. 

(Signed)        "  De  Villardin." 

I  found  that  this  sort  of  letter  of  credit  had  been  com- 
mon in  the  times  of  the  former  war  ;  and  as  it  com- 
mitted no  party  to  any  thing,  even  if  seized,  was  of 
course  very  convenient.  Every  thing  else  apparently 
being  arranged,  I  was  taking  my  leave,  intending  to  set 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  185 

out  instantly,  and  alone,  when  Monsieur  de  Villardin, 
to  my  surprise,  bade  me  take  two  of  the  servants,  whom 
he  named,  to  give  me  assistance  in  case  of  need. 

"  No,  no,  my  lord,"  I  said,  "  for  Heaven's  sake  do  not 
inflict  such  shackles  upon  me  ;  I  shall  be  much  better 
by  myself;  and  as  to  assistance,  1  shall  want  none, 
depend  upon  it.  I  have  always  been  able  to  make  my 
own  eyes  find  my  own  way,  and  my  own  hand  keep  my 
own  head  since  I  was  eight  years  old,  and  with  your 
permission  I  will  go  alone.  Besides,  if  I  took  any  of 
the  servants  from  this  place,  1  should  have  my  English 
birth  and  education  known  to  every  one  they  came  near 
in  five  minutes — especially  if  we  bade  them  keep  it 
secret." 

"Well,  well,  do  as  you  please,"  replied  the  duke; 
"  but  if  you  go  alone,  you  had  a  great  deal  better  ride 
post ;  for,  as  I  know  you  are  an  indefatigable  horseman, 
you  will  by  that  means  be  able  to  do  double  the  distance 
in  the  same  space  of  time." 

To  this  I  willingly  agreed,  and  it  having  been  ar- 
ranged that  I  was  at  least  to  take  a  servant  with  me  as 
far  as  the  next  relay,  in  order  to  bring  back  my  own 
horse,  I  left  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  and  proceeded  to 
make  my  preparations,  which,  I  need  not  say,  were 
brief  enough. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

I  COULD  not  but  feel  melancholy  as  1  rode  away  fronn 
the  chateau,  and  passed  by  many  of  the  spots  which 
were  engraven  upon  the  tablet  of  my  memory  by  acts 
and  feelings  that  could  never  suffer  them  to  be  effaced. 
It  was  not,  indeed,  that  I  entertained  any  sad  or  gloomy 
anticipation  in  regard  to  the  future;  for,, through  life, 
the  noblest  blessing  of  all  the  many  with  which 
Heaven  has  heaped  up  my  lot,  has  been  that  inde- 
structible hopefulness  of  disposition,  which  always  pre- 
sents a  bright  prospect  in  the  coming  years  :  but  it  was 
that  memory,  as  if  stimulated  by  the  act  of  leaving  the 
place,  called  up  again,  and  passed  in  long  review  before 


186  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

my  eyes,  all  those  dark  hours  and  horrible  deeds  which 
had  filled  up  my  residence  in  Brittany.  It  was  against 
my  will  that  these  recollections  swarmed  upon  me  ; 
but  there  are  moments  when  we  have  no  power  to  bid 
memory  cease  her  recapitulations — when  the  heart, 
often  from  some  mere  trifling  accident,  is  cast  prostrate 
before  the  past,  and  cannot  struggle  up  against  the 
torrent  of  remembrances  that  pour  over  it ;  and  such 
was  then  the  case  with  myself. 

If  I  had  given  a  world,  I  could  not  banish  from  my 
thoughts  the  violent  death,  and  dying  countenance,  the 
bloody  grave  of  the  Count  de  Mesnil,  the  gentle  looks, 
the  melancholy  fate  of  Madame  de  Villardin — the 
gloomy  swimming  down  that  fatal  stream  in  the  endea- 
vour to  find  her,  the  long  torch-light  search  for  her 
body,  and  the  terrible  nights  of  watching  1  had  spent 
by  the  bedside  of  her  delirious  and  culpable  husband. 

As  memory  would  have  way,  I  strove  to  turn  into 
some  gentler  course,  and  tried  to  fix  it  upon  something 
sweeter  in  the  past.  There  were  only  two  or  three 
acts,  however,  which  1  could  recall,  that  afforded  a 
pleasant  resting-place  for  thought  in  all  that  occurred 
to  me  since  I  first  entered  the  house  of  Monsieur  de 
Villardin.  The  efl'orts  I  had  made  to  remove  from  the 
mind  of  the  duke  the  wild  suspicions  that  he  had  then  en- 
tertained of  his  wife,  were  now,  of  course,  most  grateful 
in  remembrance.  Nor,  indeed,  do  I  recollect  among 
all  that  1  ever  did  in  my  life,  any  thing  which  gave  me 
greater  pleasure  than  I  experienced  at  that  moment,  in 
calling  to  mind  the  rescue  of  sweet  little  Laura  de  Vil- 
lardin from  the  same  stream  that  had  afterward  proved 
fatal  to  her  mother,  though,  after  all,  it  was  but  the 
service  of  a  water-dog.  Neither,  indeed,  did  the  mem- 
ory of  all  the  little  kindnesses  I  had  shown  to  Jacques 
Marlot  prove  at  all  ungrateful  to  me,  though,  I  confess, 
they  had  been  done  more  in  a  spirit  of  merriment,  per- 
haps, than  benevolence.  One  is  almost  always  benefi- 
cent when  one  laughs,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  a 
few  human  hyenas,  who  scarcely  deserve  the  name  of 
men ;  and,  notwithstanding  all  his  misfortunes  and  dis- 
tresses, the  worthy  printer  was  always  connected  in 
my  mind  with  associations  of  a  gay  and  jocose  char- 
acter. 

Jt  was  upon  him,  then,  by  this  train  of  associations 
that  my  thoughts  last  rested  as  I  rode  away  from  the 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  187 

chateau  of  Dumont ;  and  as  my  constant  attendance 
upon  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  prevented  my  seeing 
Maitre  Jacques  for  nearly  six  weeks,  I  was  suddenly 
seized  with  a  great  desire  to  take  leave  of  him  ere  I 
went  to  Paris.  The  road  by  his  house  was  as  near, 
though  somewhat  rougher,  and  I  turned  my  bridle 
thitherward  almost  as  soon  as  his  image  rose  up  before 
my  mind.  At  his  door  I  met  with  Father  Ferdinand, 
whom  I  had  left  a  couple  of  hours  before  in  the  park  ; 
and,  after  explaining  to  the  good  priest  that  I  was 
bound  to  Paris,  on  the  business  of  Monsieur  de  Villar- 
din, I  received  his  benediction  and  one  or  two  injunc- 
tions in  regard  to  my  conduct ;  and  while  he  pursued 
his  way  back  to  the  chateau,  I  knocked  loudly  with  the 
but  of  my  whip  at  the  door  of  the  ci-devant  printer. 
He  came  out  immediately,  and  but  few  words  passed 
between  us,  as  I  had  not  time  to  dismount.  Nor,  in- 
deed, did  he  ask  me  to  come  in  when  he  found  that  I 
was  bound  upon  an  errand  of  importance,  but,  wishing 
me  all  prosperity,  and  that  I  might  live  long  enough  to 
save  a  great  number  of  honest  men  from  the  gallows, 
he  bade  me  adieu,  and  suffered  me  to  depart. 

I  have  marked  this  visit,  for,  strange  enough  to  say, 
it  was  the  last  time  that  I  saw  the  good  printer  for  nearly 
six  years  ;  and,  by  the  end  of  that  period,  I  need  hardly 
say  that  we  had  both  undergone  many  changes,  at  least 
in  personal  appearance. 

From  Juvigny  I  rode  as  fast  as  possible  to  the  next 
post  relay,  and  there  leaving  my  horse  with  the  servant 
who  had  accompanied  me,  I  set  out  with  my  postillion 
as  fast  as  I  could  go.  Remembering  the  directions 
which  I  had  received,  I  certainly  did  not  fail  to  make  all 
speed ;  and  I  found  it  no  difficult  thing  to  induce  the 
post-boys  to  put  much  more  celerity  into  their  beasts 
than  the  law  required,  or  indeed  allowed.  By  this 
means,  and  by  utter  forgetfulness  of  all  personal  fatigue, 
I  reached  Paris  full  two  days  sooner  than  I  should 
otherwise  have  done,  and  much  earlier,  I  am  convinced, 
than  Monsieur  de  Villardin  himself  anticipated. 

The  moment  I  arrived,  I  found  out  the  residence  of 
Gourville,  who  was  then  lodging  at  a  small  house  in  the 
Rue  St.  Thomas;  and,  after  some  difficulty,  which 
showed  me  that  he  was  not  very  much,  at  his  ease  in  re- 
gard to  his  own  situation,  1  was  admitted  to  his  apart- 
ments, and  found  a  young  man  of  a  shrewd,  intelligent 


188  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

countenance,  and  simple  but  not  vulgar  manners.  Fol- 
lowing a  habit  I  had  acquired  of  examining  every  new 
face  closely  ere  I  said  a  word  myself,  I  paused  a  mo- 
ment or  two  before  I  delivered  the  letter  with  which  I 
was  charged  from  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  and  I  could 
easily  see  that  Gourville  was  annoyed  and  alarmed 
by  the  visit  of  a  person  so  completely  a  stranger  to  him, 
and  whose  manners,  I  believe,  appeared  somewhat  ex- 
traordinary. The  moment,  however,  that  I  had  explained 
to  him  the  object  of  my  coming, his  countenance  cleared, 
but  still  he  said  not  one  word  which  could  have  com- 
mitted himself  in  any  way,  till  he  had  first  read  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin's  letter.  Nor  was  he  even  satisfied 
with  that,  without  first  speaking  to  me  himself  upon 
various  matters  which  1  very  well  understood  were 
more  designed  to  draw  out  my  character,  and  ascertain 
whether  I  were  really  trustworthy  than  to  gain  infor- 
mation of  another  kind.  As  it  was  not  at  all  unlike  the 
conduct  which  I  should  have  pursued  myself  under 
similar  circumstances,  I  did  not  certainly  feel  in  the 
least  offended ;  and,  after  about  half  an  hour  spent  in 
this  sort  of  spider-like  investigation,  which  did  not  take 
place  less  upon  my  side  than  upon  his,  we  began  more 
clearly  to  understand  each  other,  and  the  conversation 
turned  to  the  objects  which  brought  me  thither. 

"  Well,  Monsieur  de  Juvigny,"  said  Gourville,  at 
length,  "  plainly  and  straightforwardly,  what  is  it  that 
you  want  to  know  ]" 

"  Plainly  and  straightforwardly,  then,"  I  replied, "  what 
I  want  to  know  is,  whether  there  is  any  chance  of  the 
liberation  of  the  princes,  and  whether  that  chance  is 
immediate  or  remote." 

Gourville  smiled,  and  paused  for  a  moment  or  two, 
and  then,  assuming  an  air  of  frankness,  which  I  never 
saw  put  on  suddenly  but  when  it  was  intended  to  de- 
ceive, he  replied,  "  Oh !  indubitably ;  there  is  every 
chance  of  their  liberation.  The  princess  dowager,  as 
you  well  know,  is  every  day  presenting  some  new  peti- 
tion either  to  the  court  or  to  the  parliament,  and  un- 
doubtedly her  just  complaints  will  be  in  the  end  attended 
to ;  and  the  princes  will  be  restored  to  the  liberty  of 
which  they  have  been  most  unjustifiably  deprived." 

As  I  have  said  before,  from  the  very  air  of  candour 
with  which  he  began  to  speak,  I  had  perceived  that 
Gourville  intended  to  deceive  me ;  and,  therefore,  I  only 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  189 

smiled  incredulously  as  a  reply.  "  It  is  very  true,  I  can 
assure  you,"  he  added ;  and  I  saw  that,  either  from 
doubting  my  judgment,  on  account  of  my  youth,  or  from 
some  suspicion  of  my  character,  he  was  so  far  deter- 
mined to  give  me  no  real  information,  that  I  must  em- 
ploy other  means  to  extort  it  from  him  than  any  I  had 
hitherto  used.  As  I  knew,  however,  that  he  could  be 
depended  upon  for  secrecy  at  least,  I  affected,  at  length, 
to  receive  what  he  said  as  truth ;  and  replied,  "  Well, 
well,  since  such  is  the  case — and  of  course  I  cannot 
doubt  your  word — I  will  immediately  write  to  Monsieur 
de  Villardin,  informing  him  that  there  is  no  necessity 
whatever  for  his  committing  himself  by  joining  the 
princess  and  Monsieur  de  Bouillon  at  Bordeaux,  as  the 
princes  are  certain  of  obtaining  their  liberation,  without 
his  taking  a  step  which  might  embroil  him  with  many 
of  his  best  friends,  as  well  as  with  the  court."  This,  of 
course,  did  not  suit  Gourville's  plans  at  all,  and,  as  I  had 
foreseen,  it  forced  him  into  an  explanation. 

"  No,  no,  sir !  no,  no  !"  he  replied.  "  Do  not  do  that 
too  hastily.  Wait  at  least  a  day  or  two,  that  we  may 
see  the  effect  of  the  means  we  are  using  at  present." 

"  That,  I  am  sorry  to  say,"  replied  I,  "  is  quite  out  of 
the  question.  I  came  here,  as  you  well  know,  to  in- 
vestigate for  Monsieur  de  Villardin  what  were  the 
chances  in  favour  of  the  immediate  liberation  of  the 
princes ;  and  I  promised  him  to  write  immediately  after 
I  had  seen  you,  to  give  him  such  information  as  would 
determine  the  part  that  he  was  to  take.  Come,  come. 
Monsieur  Gourville,  you  are  not  acting  candidly  with 
me.  If  you  speak  frankly,  you  have  nothing  to  fear. 
If  you  do  not  speak  frankly,  you  may  prevent  Monsieur 
de  Villardin  from  throwing  his  whole  weight  into  the 
scale  of  the  princes.  You  may  speak  freely  to  me,  I 
assure  you.     I  am  not  so  much  of  a  boy  as  I  may  seem." 

"  It  appears  not,  indeed,"  replied  my  companion ; 
"  and,  therefore,  I  suppose  I  must  speak  frankly  with 
you  :  but  there  is  one  thing,  young  gentleman,  I  would 
have  you  remark,  which  is,  that  if  I  do  admit  you  to  my 
confidence,  you  must  take  your  part  also  in  the  schemes 
which  I  am  pursuing  ;  and  as  I  tell  you  that  they  are 
just  as  likely  to  conduct  every  one  concerned  in  them 
to  the  gallows,  as  to  produce  any  other  result,  you  may 
judge  whether  this  is  the  sort  of  confidence  that  you 
would  like." 


190  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

I  smiled  at  his  reply ;  and  said,  that  I  was  too  much 
accustomed  to  dangers  of  all  kinds  to  fear  the  gallows 
more  than  any  other  sort  of  death. 

"  Well,  well,  if  that  be  the  case,"  he  replied,  "  the 
matter  will  soon  be  settled.  Monsieur  de  Villardin  here 
tells  me  to  trust  you  entirely,  and  Monsieur  de  Roche- 
foucault  enjoins  me  to  trust  in  him  in  the  same  manner. 
So  that,  of  course,  I  must  obey,  whatever  be  the  conse- 
tjuences,  though  I  do  not,  I  confess,  like  to  confide 
secrets  of  such  vital  importance  to  more  people  than 
necessary." 

He  then  proceeded  to  inform  me, — though  with  a 
great  deal  of  difficulty  and  hesitation,  even  after  having 
made  up  his  mind  to  do  so, — that  a  plan  was,  at  that  mo- 
ment, in  progress  for  the  liberation  of  the  Prince  de 
Conde,  by  means  of  the  soldiers  of  the  guard  in  garrison 
at  Vincennes,  where  the  prince  was  at  that  time  con- 
fined. These  men,  many  of  whom  had  served  under 
Conde,  and  all  of  whom  admired  and  loved  him,  Gour- 
ville  represented  as  uniformly  favourable  to  the  scheme  ; 
cind  I  learned  that  the  execution  of  the  whole  was  merely 
put  off  till  the  Sunday  following,  in  order  that  the  attempt 
might  be  made  while  the  governor  and  officers  were  at 
vespers  in  the  chapel. 

"  The  only  difficulty,"  he  continued,  "  which  presents 
itself  to  the  course  of  the  whole  undertaking,  is  to  prepare 
the  princes  themselves  for  the  effort  that  is  to  be  made 
in  their  favour.  No  one  is  allowed  to  see  them  except 
Pallu,  the  surgeon  of  the  Prince  de  Conde,  who  visits 
him  three  times  a  week,  in  order  to  dress  the  wound  in 
his  arm.  Now  Pallu  is  himself  as  much  attached  to  the 
prince  as  any  man  can  be,  but  he  is  as  timid  as  a  child ; 
and,  notwithstanding  all  my  persuasions,  will  not  be  the 
bearer  of  a  message  to  his  highness." 

"  But  cannot  you  contrive  to  introduce  some  one 
else  ]"  I  demanded  ;  "  I  should  think  that  might  be  easily 
done." 

"Indeed!"  said  Gourville,  with  a  smile,  "I  have 
turned  it  in  my  head  in  every  way  I  can  think  of;  and 
yet  I  not  only  do  not  see  any  easy  method,  but  I  confess 
that  I  perceive  no  possible  means  of  conveying  the  in- 
formation to  Monsieur  le  Prince.  We  are,  therefore, 
preparing  to  execute  our  scheme  as  well  as  we  can 
without." 

I  mused  a  moment  ere  I  answered,  and  then  merely 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  191 

Bsked,  what  was  the  post  which  GourvilUe  intended  to 
assign  me  in  the  matter,  and  which  he  had  declared 
was  dangerous. 

"  Simply  this,"  he  replied,  "  and  you  will  see  at  once 
that  it  is  not  more  perilous  than  that  of  any  other  per- 
son concerned.  We  are  about  to  station  twenty  or 
thirty  cavaUers  in  the  different  villages  around  Vincennes, 
divided  into  parties  of  three  or  four,  and  each  provided 
with  led  horses,  to  afford  the  princes  the  means  of 
escape,  whatever  direction  they  may  judge  fit  to  take. 
If  any  of  the  parties  are  caught,  they  will  be  hanged, 
to  a  certainty,  but  each  man  must  of  course  make  his 
mind  up  to  his  risk ;  and  what  I  proposed  was,  that  you 
should  be  joined  to  one  of  these  bodies,  and  act  as 
guide  to  the  princes  into  Brittany,  in  case  that  they 
should  determine  upon  pursuing  that  road  ;  for  I  judge, 
by  your  tongue,  that  you  are  a  Breton,  and  doubt  not 
that  you  know  the  country  well." 

"  That  I  do,  most  assuredly,"  replied  I ;  "  but  never- 
theless, I  think  1  can  serve  you  better  in  another  way, 
— and  not  without  exposing  myself,"  I  added,  seeing  a 
slight  smile  curl  my  companion's  lip,  "  fully  as  much, 
if  not  more,  than  any  of  you." 

"  And  pray  what  do  you  propose  ?"  he  said. 

"  Simply,"  I  answered,  "  to  convey  the  tidings  of  our 
design  to  the  princes  themselves." 

"  Impossible,"  he  replied,  "  depend  upon  it,  that  is 
quite  impossible." 

"  Not  near  so  much  so,  rest  assured,  as  you  imagine," 
I  answered.  "The  fact  is,  I  know  Monsieur  de  Pallu 
well,  for  he  attended  long  upon  a  gentleman  to  whom  I 
was  much  attached,  and  I  saw  him  regularly  every  day. 
Now  I  know  all  his  manners  and  his  habits  so  well  that 
I  could  fearlessly  take  upon  me  to  feign  myself  one  of 
his  assistants,  and  to  give  such  an  account  of  him- 
self and  his  person,  if  by  any  chance  I  should  be  ques- 
tioned, that  I  am  certain  I  should  escape  detection.  I 
doubt  not  in  the  least,"  I  added,  seeing  Gourville's  coun- 
tenance begin  to  brighten  as  my  plan  developed  itself, 
"  I  doubt  not  in  the  least  that,  although  he  cannot  be 
prevailed  upon  to  deliver  the  message  to  the  princes 
himself,  he  may  easily  be  induced  to  neglect  his  visit 
to  Vincennes  for  one  single  day.  As  soon  as  that  is 
determined,  I  will  take  advantage  of  the  fact,  and,  dress- 
ing myself  as  a  gar9on  apothecaire,  I  will  present  my- 


192  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

self  at  Vincennes,  with  dressings  and  plasters,  and,  de» 
daring  that  Monsieur  de  Pallu  is  ill,  or  called  by  some 
urgent  case  elsewhere,  will  demand  to  see  the  prince 
and  dress  his  arm." 

"  Bravo  !  mon  cher  Breton  !"  cried  Gourville,  catch- 
ing me  in  his  arms  and  actually  embracing  me ;  "  bravo  ! 
bravo  !  Pallu  will  consent,  of  course  ;  and  if  he  do  not, 
a  little  gentle  force,  or  some  good-natured  ruse  will 
easily  bring  the  matters  to  bear,  as  far  at  least  as  he  is 
concerned.  Diable !  I  would  keep  him  in  his  house 
with  a  pistol  at  his  throat  sooner  than  such  a  hopeful 
enterprise  should  fail. — But  are  you  sure,  my  good 
young  friend,  that  your  courage  will  hold  out  ?"  he 
added,  as  he  began  to  reflect ;  the  very  delight  he  felt 
at  my  proposal  making  him  apprehensive  lest  it  should 
fail.  "  Remember,  for  heaven's  sake,  that  Vincennes 
is  a  terrible  looking  place ;  and  what  with  its  draw- 
bridges, its  guards,  and  its  chains,  its  gloomy  passages, 
and  frowning  stone  walls,  you  may  lose  your  presence 
of  mind  at  the  very  moment  when  it  is  most  necessary ; 
and  not  only  forfeit  your  own  life,  but  overthrow  our 
whole  scheme." 

"  No  fear,  no  fear !"  I  answered,  smiling :  "  I  am  more 
accustomed  to  such  work  than  you  know  of,  and  have 
no  apprehensions." 

"Well,  well,"  answered  Gourville,  "  have  your  will, 
then ;  though  I  must  say  you  look  to  me  very  young  to 
have  much  acquaintance  with  proceedings  dangerous 
in  themselves,  and  ten  thousand  times  more  dangerous 
in  their  consequences.  You  cannot  be  above  six- 
teen r' 

"  Not  so  much,"  I  replied.  "  And  yet  for  many  a 
year  I  have  lived  amid  scenes  to  which  all  that  is  pass- 
ing in  these  foolish  wars  is  but  child's  play.  But  now 
let  us  concert  our  plans,  that  nothing  may  go  wrong." 

After  some  more  conversation  on  the  subject,  Gour- 
ville proceeded  to  the  house  of  Pallu,  and  finding  him 
at  home,  went  in,  while  I  remained  in  the  street.  On 
his  return,  he  informed  me  that  all  was  arranged  with  the 
worthy  surgeon,  who  consented  to  show  an  apparent 
neglect  to  the  Prince  de  Conde ;  but  required  that,  in 
order  to  screen  himself  completely  from  the  ire  of  the 
court,  in  case  of  our  detection,  a  fictitious  letter,  de- 
manding his  immediate  presence  at  St.  Germain,  should 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  193 

be  sent  to  him  at  the  very  hour  in  the  evening  that  he 
usually  visited  his  patient  in  Vincennes. 

All  this  was  settled  with  the  surgeon,  and  nothing  re- 
mained but  for  me  to  play  my  part.  The  time  for  exe- 
cuting my  design  was,  of  necessity,  three  o'clock  on 
the  following  day,  as  that  was  the  usual  period  of  Pallu's 
visit ;  and  having  proceeded  to  the  house  of  the  well- 
known  fripier  Martin,  where  every  sort  of  dress  under 
the  sun  was  to  be  procured  for  a  little  more  than  its 
real  value,  I  furnished  myself  with  the  complete  equip- 
ment of  a  surgeon's  eleve.  I  spent  the  rest  of  that 
evening  in  concluding  my  arrangements  with  Gour- 
ville,  who  gave  me  all  that  minute  information  which 
was  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  what  I  had 
undertaken. 

On  the  following  morning  early,  I  rode  out  to  St. 
Maur  to  see  Lord  Masterton,  but  found  that  Lord  Lang- 
leigh  and  himself  were  absent  in  Normandy.  I  saw 
the  Lady  Emily,  however,  and  could  not  but  feel  what 
a  contrast  her  bright  and  smiling  looks  afforded  to  those 
which  had  latterly  appeared  upon  the  countenance  of 
poor  Madame  de  Villardin,  once  as  gay  and  happy  as 
her  own. 

On  my  return  to  Paris,  it  was  nearly  time  to  set  out 
for  Vincennes  ;  and,  mounted  on  a  little  sturdy  horse, 
which  seemed  made  on  purpose  for  a  surgeon's  pony,  fur- 
nished with  ointments  and  plasters  in  boundless  pro- 
fusion, and  habited  as  a  garden  chirurgien,  I  rode  off 
upon  my  expedition,  and  soon  approached  the  prison 
of  the  princes.  The  castle  had  nothing  very  formidable 
in  its  aspect  to  my  eyes  ;  but,  nevertheless,  in  gazing 
up  at  the  donjon,  and  remembering  the  purpose  of  my 
visit,  I  felt  more  as  I  used  to  do  in  days  of  old  than  I 
had  done  for  some  time.  I  was  little  "  Ball  oTire"  all 
over;  and  I  could  almost  fancy  myself  upon  some  of 
my  expeditions  during  the  civil  wars  of  England,  This 
feeling  tended  to  put  me  much  more  at  my  ease  than 
1  might  otherwise  have  been ;  and  as  there  is  nothing 
so  serviceable  as  effrontery  under  such  circumstances, 
it  proved  of  real  use  to  me. 

On  entering  the  gate,  the  first  question  asked  me  was 
by  a  grim-looking  guardsman,  who  came  up  as  the 
sentry  stopped  me,  and  demanded  what  I  wanted  there. 

I  answered,  with  all  the  naivete  in  the  world,  that  I 
wanted  to  see  the  Prince  de  Conde. 

Vol.  L— I 


194  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

"  Indeed  !"  exclaimed  the  guard,  not  a  little  astonished 
at  my  coolness.  "  And  pray  what  may  be  your  name, 
my  good  youth  1" 

"  1  am  called  Jerome,"  I  replied ;  "  and  I  am  assistant 
to  Monsieur  de  Pallu,  the  surgeon,  who  sent  me  here 
because  he  was  obliged — " 

"  Oh !  if  that  be  the  case,"  cried  the  soldier,  inter- 
rupting me,  you  must  come  to  Monsieur  de  Bar.  We 
cannot  let  you  in  without  his  authority,  for  we  must 
not  even  speak  to  the  prince  ourselves." 

From  the  man's  tone,  I  doubted  not  that  this  was 
one  of  the  sergeants  of  the  guard,  whom  Gourville  had 
spoken  of  as  in  the  interest  of  the  princes  ;  but  of 
course  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  go  through  with  my 
part  as  gargon  apothecaire  ;  and,  therefore,  assuming 
as  stupid  an  air  as  possible,  I  suffered  myself  to  be  led 
to  the  presence  of  Monsieur  de  Bar,  the  governor.  I 
never  saw  a  less  prepossessing  fellow,  or  one  better 
framed  by  the  hand  of  nature  for  a  jailer.  As  soon 
as  I  had  informed  him  that  Monsieur  de  Pallu,  having 
been  sent  for  to  St.  Germain  on  a  case  of  life  and 
death,  had  despatched  me  to  dress  the  prince's  arm, 
which  he  thought  could  not  remain  till  the  following  day, 
the  governor  knit  his  brows,  and  stared  me  all  over 
with  a  heavy  frown,  as  if  I  had  committed  some 
offence.  But,  without  taking  any  notice,  or  showing 
the  slightest  agitation,  I  stood  upon  one  leg,  like  an 
awkward  boy,  and  looked  around  the  room  with  an  air 
of  stolid  curiosity,  which  completely  deceived  him. 

"  Monsieur  de  Pallu  should  not  have  gone  away  on 
any  pretext,"  said  the  governor,  abruptly,  when  he  had 
satisfied  himself  with  his  examination  of  my  person. 
"  It  is  disgraceful  of  him  to  send  a  stupid  boy  like  you 
to  dress  the  prince's  wound.  I  have  a  great  mind  to 
send  you  back." 

I  gazed  at  him  for  a  moment  with  open  mouth  and" 
eyes ;  and  then  assuring  him  that  I  could  dress  the 
wound  as  well  as  Monsieur  de  Pallu  himself,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  detail  exactly  that  surgeon's  method  of  pro- 
ceeding, which  I  had  watched  attentively  during  his 
attendance  on  Lord  Masterton.  The  governor  cut  me 
short  with  an  oath,  however ;  and  telling  me  that  he 
did  not  want  to  learn  surgery,  rose,  and  took  the  key  of 
the  apartments  in  which  the  princes  were  confined. 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL,  195 

Throwing:  open  the  door,  he  pushed  me  m  by  the 
shoulders,  bidding  me  to  knock  loudly  at  that  same  door 
when  I  had  done,  and  not  to  stop  longer  than  necessary. 
I  now  found  myself  alone,  in  a  httle  ante-chamber ;  and, 
as  it  had  but  one  other  door,  of  course  I  advanced  to- 
wards it,  and  entered  the  next  room  without  ceremony. 
Here,  seated  at  a  table,  which  was  covered  with  pots  of 
beautiful  carnations,  sat  a  young  man  of  about  five  or 
six-and -twenty,  busily  tending  and  arranging  his  flow- 
ers. He  was  alone — though  I  heard  voices  in  a  cham- 
ber beyond ; — and,  from  the  whole  appearance  of  the 
apartment,  the  neglect  and  poverty  of  the  furniture,  and 
the  simplicity  of  the  young  man's  own  attire,  I  might 
have  imagined  that  he  was  some  valet  de  chambre,  ad- 
mitted to  the  prison  in  order  to  attend  upon  the  princes, 
had  he  not  looked  up  :  as  he  did  so,  however,  the  eagle- 
eye  could  not  be  mistaken,  and  I  felt  that  I  must  be  in 
the  presence  of  the  great  Conde. 

"  Who  are  you,  my  boy  ?"  he  asked,  as  soon  as  he 
saw  me.  "  Good  faith,  this-  is  a  pleasing  novelty  :  I 
have  not  seen  a  new  face  these  two  months  ;  let  me 
look  at  you:"  and,  rising  from  his  seat,  he  approached 
the  window  near  which  I  passed  as  I  entered  from  the 
ante-room.  He  was  neither  very  tall  nor  very  strongly 
made,  but  there  was  the  promise  of  extraordinary  ac- 
tivity in  every  limb.  His  features  were  slightly  aqui- 
line, and  in  general  good,  without  being  very  striking. 
But  his  eye  was,  indeed,  remarkable.  It  was  deep  set, 
it  is  true,  and  not  particularly  large ;  but  there  was  a 
light,  a  keenness,  an  intensity  in  its  slightest  glance, 
that  is  quite  indescribable.  It  was  quick,  too,  as  the 
lightning ;  and  I  observed,  that  at  almost  every  other 
word,  the  corner  of  the  eyebrow  next  the  nose  was 
drawn  forward,  and  rounded,  as  it  were,  so  as  to  shade 
the  eye  in  a  degree,  and  to  cut  off  every  ray  of  light  but 
those  which  fell  upon  the  object  at  which  he  was 
looking. 

"  Who  are  you,  my  boy  1  Who  are  you — who  are 
you  V  he  repeated,  quickly.  "  Has  Monsieur  de  Bar 
forgotten  himself,  and  learned  to  believe  that  gentle- 
manly conduct  is  consistent  with  the  office  of  a  jailer?" 

For  a  moment  I  was  in  doubt  how  to  answer  ;  but,  as 
I  still  heard  voices  in  the  other  room,  I  thought  it  best 
to  be  cautious,  and,  being  obliged  to  speak  loud,  on  ac- 
count of  my  distance  from  the  prince  at  the  moment,  I 
12 


196  THE    ADVENTURES    OP 

told  him  the  same  story  that  I  had  passed  upon  the 
governor. 

"  Ha  !"  he  said,  "  Pallu  should  have  come  to  me  first. 
He  forgets  that  he  is  my  oracle  as  well  as  surgeon,  and 
the  only  human  thing  that  I  see  from  week's  end  to 
week's  end,  except  the  grim  visages  of  my  jailers,  or 
the  gloomy  ones  of  my  fellow-prisoners.  However,  if 
there  was  life  or  death  in  the  case,  as  you  say,  of  course 
he  could  not  come." 

While  he  was  speaking  I  advanced  quietly  to  the 
table,  and  putting  down  the  packet  of  salves  and  dress- 
ings upon  it,  I  approached  closer  to  the  prince  without 
saying  a  word.  He  looked  at  me  sharply  as  I  did  so, 
seeming  to  comprehend  at  once  that  there  was  some- 
thing extraordinary  in  this  manoeuvre  ;  and,  when  I  was 
within  about  a  yard  of  him,  he  put  out  his  hand  to  stop 
my  farther  advance,  saying,  "  Stay,  stay ;  no  nearer,  if 
you  please,  till  I  hear  more  of  your  business." 

I  bowed  low,  and  replied,  in  a  tone  that  could  only  be 
heard  by  himself,  "  If  your  highness  will  sit  down  and 
permit  me  to  dress  your  arm,  or,  at  least,  seem  to  do 
so,  I  may  prove  more  oracular  than  Monsieur  de  Pallu. 
I  come  from  your  highness's  faithful  friend  and  servant, 
Monsieur  de  Villardin,  and  from  your  no  less  faithful 
servant,  Gourville." 

"  Hush  !"  he  replied,  "  hush  !"  and,  advancing  to  the 
door  which  led  into  the  other  room,  he  said,  speaking 
to  the  Prince  de  Conti  and  the  Duke  de  Longueville, 
who  were  within,  "  Messieurs,  I  am  going  to  have  my 
wound  dressed  ;  and,  therefore,  unless  you  wish  to  learn 
surgery,  you  may  stay  where  you  are  for  half  an  hour." 
He  then  closed  the  door,  and,  returning  to  his  seat  near 
the  table,  stripped  off  his  coat,  and,  drawing  back  his 
sleeve,  presented  his  arm  to  me,  saying  at  the  same 
time,  "  Now  !" 

I,  on  my  part,  busied  myself  with  the  dressings,  and 
while  I  did  so,  proceeded  to  explain  to  him,  in  a  low 
tone,  but  as  distinctly  as  possible,  the  measures  that  had 
been  taken  for  setting  him  at  liberty  on  the  Sunday  fol- 
lowing. 1  told  him  that  the  guards,  who  had  entered 
into  our  plan,  were  already  provided  with  the  means  of 
fastening  the  officers  into  the  chapel  during  the  vesper 
service,  that  horses  would  be  ready  at  each  of  the  vil- 
lages within  four  miles  of  Vincennes,  that  the  whole 
garrison  was  in  his  favour,  and  that  nothing  was  want- 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  197 

ing  but  preparation  on  his  part  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  when  it  occurred. 

"  Fear  not,"  he  repUed,  in  the  same  tone,  "  fear  not 
that  I  will  be  found  unprepared.  No,  no ;  as  soon  as 
that  door  is  open,  1  will  be  quite  ready  to  walk  out  of  it. 
But  tell  me,"  he  added,  "  who  are  you  that  have  been 
trusted  with  such  an  important  communication,  and 
have  had  courage  and  address  sufficient  to  execute  it  V 

"  I  am  one,  your  highness,"  repUed  I,  "  for  whom  you 
were  kind  enough  some  time  ago,  at  the  intercession  of 
Monsieur  de  Villardin,  to  obtain  some  favours  at  the 
hands  of  the  court." 

"  What !  the  young  Englishman,"  he  cried,  "  who 
saved  his  daughter's  life  ! — Is  it  so  T" 

I  replied  in  the  affirmative ;  and  he  added,  "  Well, 
then,  they  were  the  last  favours  that  I  obtained  for  any 
one,  for  not  three  days  after  my  arrest  took  place." 

"  Most  grateful  I  am  to  your  highness,"  I  replied, 
"  and  I  thank  Heaven  that  the  commission  with  which 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  has  intrusted  me  enables  me  to 
be  of  some  slight  service  to  your  cause." 

"  Of  inestimable  service,  young  gentleman,"  he  re- 
plied ;  "  for,  in  truth,  I  know  none,  except  yourself,  and 
perhaps  Gourville,  who  would  have  undertaken  the  dan- 
gerous task  which  you  have  accomphshed.  Should  you 
be  successful, — which  I  will  not  doubt,  since  the  scheme 
is  so  well  devised  and  so  well  conducted — I  shall 
not  be  found  wanting  in  gratitude  to  any  who  have 
served  me,  especially  to  one  who  has  served  me  so 
well  as  you  have  :  and  now,  as  it  is  clear  enough  that 
you  know  nothing  of  dressing  wounds,  get  you  gone  as 
speedily  as  possible,  lest  Pallu  himself  should  come, 
and  worse  should  befall  you." 

"  There  is  no  fear,  my  lord,"  I  replied  ;  "  we  have 
taken  good  means  to  keep  Monsieur  de  Pallu  away." 

"  Indeed !"  he  answered,  "  then  it  would  seem  you 
have  forgot  nothing;  but,  nevertheless,  I  am  anxious 
for  your  safety.  Tell  Gourville  and  the  rest  that  I  shall 
be  ready  to  a  moment  at  the  hour  of  vespers  ;  and,  once 
beyond  these  prison  walls,  the  court  and  Mazarin  shall 
have  something  to  remember  which  they  may  find  not 
easy  to  forget.  Fare  you  well,  young  man ;  and  be 
sure,  that,  whether  we  succeed  or  not,  Conde  will  not 
be  found  ungrateful." 


198  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

My  errand  was  done,  and  of  course  I  did  not  feel  in- 
clined to  linger  in  such  dangerous  circumstances. 

Gathering  up  all  the  trumpery  which  I  had  brought 
with  me  on  the  pretence  of  dressing  his  wound,  I  took 
my  leave,  and,  retiring  into  the  antechamber,  I  knocked 
hard,  as  I  had  been  told  to  do,  in  order  to  call  some  one 
to  the  door.  During  nearly  ten  minutes,  however,  I 
knocked  in  vain,  and,  of  course,  gradually  increased  the 
vehemence  of  my  application,  till  the  whole  passages 
rang  again  with  the  sound.  At  length  the  governor  ap- 
peared, and  showered  upon  my  head  no  mitigated 
abuse  for  the  noise  which  1  had  made.  As  it  was  ne- 
cessary, however,  to  proceed  with  the  same  caution  in 
effecting  my  exit  as  I  had  employed  in  procuring  admit- 
tance to  the  prison,  I  resumed  my  air  of  stupidity,  and, 
muttering  something  about  having  knocked  for  ten  min- 
utes, I  glided  past  him  as  he  locked  the  door,  and  walked 
on  towards  the  stairs.  With  a  few  more  abusive  epi- 
thets he  suffered  me  to  depart,  and,  passing  dovrn  into 
the  court,  the  wicket  gate  was  thrown  open  for  me  to 
go  out  into  the  park. 

As  the  soldier  at  the  gate  maliciously  refused  to  open 
it  any  farther,  I  was  obliged  to  lead  my  pony  through 
the  wicket ;  and  as  the  aperture  seemed  much  less  than 
the  animal  conceived  its  own  dignity  and  magnitude  re- 
quired, it  cost  me  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  force 
it  through.  When  this  w^as  at  length  effected,  amid  the 
merriment  of  the  soldiery,  I  mounted,  and  proceeded 
on  my  way ;  nor  did  any  thing  occur  in  the  course  of 
my  ride  towards  Paris  which  was  worthy  of  remark, 
except  the  fact  of  my  meeting,  at  about  twenty  yards 
from  the  gate  of  the  chateau,  one  of  the  sergeants  of 
the  guard,  who,  with  downcast  looks,  and  a  rapid  but 
unsteady  pace,  was  returning  towards  the  castle  which 
I  had  just  left. 


JOHN    MARSTON   HALL.  199 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

It  was  late  in  the  day  when  I  returned  to  Gourville's 
lodging,  and  I  thought  he  would  have  gone  mad  with 
joy  when  I  told  him  the  success  of  my  attempt.  He 
frankly  avowed  to  me  also,  that,  though  well  accustomed 
to  dangerous  enterprises,  he  had  listened  during  my  ab- 
sence for  every  sound,  expecting  each  minute  to  find 
that  I  had  been  arrested,  and  that  a  lettre  de  cachet  had 
been  sent  for  his  own  apprehension. 

"  And  did  you  really  think.  Monsieur  Gourville,"  I  de- 
manded, "  that,  even  had  I  been  stopped  myself,  I  would 
have  implicated  you  ?" 

"  There  is  no  knowing,  monsieur, — there  is  no  know- 
ing," replied  he  ;  "  the  question  is  not  a  pleasant  thing, 
and  I  have  never  been  able  to  tell  how  I  should  myself 
behave  under  its  infliction.  I  acknowledge  that  it  is 
just  as  likely  that  1  should  yield  all  sorts  of  secrets  to 
its  potent  influence,  as  that  I  should  conceal  them." 

"  Of  course,  then,  I  can  neither  be  surprised  nor 
offended,"  I  replied,  "  at  your  attributing  to  me  the 
same  feelings;  but  to  speak  of  other  matters.  To- 
morrow early  I  shall  go  out  to  St.  Maur,  to  see  if  a 
friend,  whom  I  expect  there,  has  returned  ;  but  I  shall 
be  back  in  the  evening,  and  you  will  find  me  at  my  au- 
berge  by  five  o'clock."  Thus  ended  our  conversation, 
and  we  parted. 

It  is  wonderful  what  changes  a  few  hours  produce 
in  this  life.  On  leaving  Gourville  that  night,  we  were 
both  as  fully  persuaded  as  mortal  men  could  be,  that 
our  scheme  was  going  on  better  and  better  each  hour. 
Nor  did  we  entertain  a  doubt  that  we  should  be  able  to 
carry  it  forward  successfully  to  the  close.  Ere  I  had 
risen  from  my  bed,  however,  the  next  morning,  I  was 
surprised  by  some  one  knocking  sharply  at  my  chamber 
door ;  and  on  opening  it,  the  first  thing  I  saw  was  the 
face  of  Gourville,  apparently  many  shades  paler  than  it 
had  been  when  1  left  him  the  night  before.  "  We  are 
lost !"  he  said ;  "  some  unfortunate  accident  has  discov- 
ered our  whole  design." 


800  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

"  Unfortunate,  indeed,"  I  answered ;  "  but  let  me 
hear,  my  good  friend,  what  is  it  that  has  filled  you  with 
such  sad  tidings  this  morning,  when  I  left  you  last  night 
borne  up  upon  the  very  pinions  of  hope  V 

"  I  have  just  discovered,"  he  replied,  "  that  after  a 
long  consultation  before  daylight  this  morning  between 
the  Duke  de  Beaufort,  the  archbishop  coadjutor,  the  car- 
dinal, and  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Monsieur  de  Beaufort 
himself,  with  three  troops  of  cavalry,  set  out  for  Vin- 
cennes  a  little  before  the  dawn ;  and,  after  searching 
every  village  in  the  neighbourhood,  proceeded  to  the 
chateau,  and  there  remains." 

This  information  was  certainly  alarming  enough ;  but 
still  it  seemed  to  me  necessary  to  obtain  some  more 
correct  intelligence  in  regard  to  the  causes  of  these 
movements  on  the  part  of  the  court  than  Gourville  had 
yet  obtained,  ere  we  decided  upon  abandoning  an  at- 
tempt, which,  as  far  as  it  had  proceeded,  had  been  con- 
ducted with  great  success.  Gourville  coincided  with 
me  in  opinion ;  but  the  difficulty  was,  where  and  how 
to  obtain  the  information  that  we  required. 

"  At  all  events,"  he  said,  "  it  is  my  duty  to  communi- 
cate immediately  what  has  occurred  to  the  poor  fellow, 
Franc-coeur,  through  whom  I  have  carried  on  my  cor- 
respondence with  the  soldiers  at  Vincennes.  He  be- 
longs to  another  company  of  the  guards,  who  are  now 
in  Paris  ;  and  as  the  matter  may  touch  his  life,  should 
we  be  actually  betrayed,  I  must  give  him  instant  notice, 
that  he  may  betake  himself  to  a  place  of  security.  As 
I  go  I  will  endeavour  to  obtain  all  the  information  I  can, 
and  will  return  in  less  than  an  hour,  and  let  you  know 
my  discoveries." 

He  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  returning  even  paler 
than  before,  seemed  somewhat  surprised  to  find  me  qui- 
etly eating  my  breakfast,  as  if  nothing  had  occurred  to 
derange  my  ordinary  habits,  or  affect  my  appetite.  He 
now  told  me  that  he  had  found  the  sergeant  not  only 
informed  of  all  the  particulars  with  which  he  himself 
was  acquainted,  but  also  possessed  of  a  knowledge  of 
their  cause.  This  he  had  communicated  to  Gourville, 
who  now  related  it  to  me  ;  and  it  appeared  that  one  of 
the  soldiers,  who  had  been  trusted  with  the  scheme  for 
delivering  the  princes,  had  taken  fright  the  day  before, 
and,  pretending  to  confess  himself  at  the  church  of 
Notre  Dame,  had  given  the  penitentiary  a  billet,  inform- 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  201 

ing  him  that,  on  the  following  Sunday,  at  three  o'clock, 
the  princes  were  to  be  set  at  liberty,  by  means  of  an 
understanding  between  their  friends  and  some  persons 
within  the  castle  of  Vincennes. 

*'  Now,"  continued  Gourville,  "  although  Franc-cceur 
declares  that,  notwithstanding  this  piece  of  treachery, 
he  is  sure  his  comrade  will  not  betray  us  any  further, 
yet,  as  it  is  clear  that  our  scheme  is  now  hopeless, 
and  as  I  never  put  great  faith  in  any  man's  resolution 
under  the  influence  of  the  question,  1  think  it  will  be  a 
great  deal  better  both  for  you  and  me  to  leave  Paris  as 
fast  as  possible." 

"  Certainly,  as  the  scheme  is  hopeless,"  I  replied,  "  I 
see  nothing  that  should  detain  us ;  and  therefore  I  shall 
return  with  all  speed  to  Brittany,  where,  perhaps,  it 
may  be  advisable,"  I  added,  with  a  laugh,  "  to  tell  Mon- 
sieur de  Yillardin  by  no  means  to  put  any  trust  in  all 
those  fine  petitions  and  remonstrances  of  the  princess 
dowager,  of  which  you  boasted  so  much  when  first  I 
saw  you." 

"  No,  no,"  replied  Gourville,  smiling  in  turn ;  "  let 
him  not  rely  upon  them  for  the  liberation  of  his  princely 
friend.  Tell  him  rather,  for  me,  that  I  now  look  upon 
it  as  absolutely  impossible  to  obtain  the  freedom  of  the 
princes  by  any  means  but  the  sword.  The  parliament 
and  the  queen  are  alike  resolved  not  to  give  them  their 
liberty ;  and  it  is  to  the  efforts  of  their  friends  alone 
that  we  must  look  for  their  deliverance." 

After  a  few  more  words  to  the  same  effect,  we  parted ; 
and  mounting  the  sturdy  little  horse  which  I  had  bought 
to  carry  me  to  Vincennes,  I  rode  away  as  hard  as  I 
could,  on  the  side  of  Brittany.  When  I  had  completely 
tired  out  my  beast,  I  again  took  the  post,  and  pursued 
my  way  towards  Dumont  with  very  little  rest  or  cessa- 
tion. It  is  true,  when  I  arrived  I  was  desperately  fa- 
tigued, for  nine  days  had  taken  me  to  Paris  and  back,  a 
distance  of  more  than  seven  hundred  miles  ;  and  during 
the  period  of  my  absence,  I  had  spent  two  whole  days 
and  part  of  another  in  the  capital.  Nor  had  I  any  very 
consolatory  remembrances  to  make  me  bear  up  with 
spirit  under  my  corporeal  weariness,  having  been  foiled 
in  my  endeavours  to  serve  the  prince  at  the  moment 
that  success  seemed  within  my  grasp ;  but  at  all  events, 
I  felt  that  I  had  some  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  my 
journey,  inasmuch  as  I  had  obtained  every  information 
13 


202  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  could  require,  and  had  found 
an  opportunity  of  personally  seeing  and  attempting  to 
aid  his  friend,  though  our  scheme  had  ultimately  proved 
ineffectual.  The  chief  mortification,  indeed,  which  I 
experienced,  arose  from  a  fear  that  the  Prince  de  Conde 
— who  would,  of  course,  remain  ignorant  of  the  events 
which  had  taken  place  without  the  walls  of  his  prison 
— might  imagine  that  I  had  deceived  him ;  and  I  could 
only  console  myself  by  remembering  that  one  day  he 
must  learn  the  truth. 

On  arriving  at  Dumont,  every  thing  I  saw  announced 
that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  not  waited  for  the  in- 
formation which  he  had  sent  me  to  seek,  ere  he  formed 
his  determination.  The  desire  of  a  change  of  scene  and 
thought,  and  the  wish  to  deliver  his  friend,  had  overcome 
every  other  feeling,  and  he  was,  in  fact,  actually  in  arms 
when  I  arrived.  At  first  he  would  scarcely  believe  that 
I  had  performed  the  journey,  but  when  he  learned  all 
that  I  had  done  besides,  he  loaded  me  with  thanks  and 
praises. 

He  then  told  me  his  own  plans,  and  informed  me  that 
he  could  but  allow  me  one  day  for  repose,  as  on  the 
Thursday  morning  following  he  was  about  to  march, 
with  all  the  forces  he  had  been  able  to  collect,  for 
Bordeaux. 

"  I  sent  off  Gaspard  de  Belleville  to  Bordeaux,"  he 
added,  "the  morning  after  your  departure  for  Paris, 
charging  him  with  a  fetter  for  the  princess,  and  another 
for  Monsieur  de  Bouillon.  In  each  of  these  1  said,  that 
unless  the  princes  were  liberated  within  three  weeks, 
their  friends  might  expect  to  see  me  in  Guyenne. — As 
Gaspard  is  now  of  age,  too,"  he  added,  in  that  sort  of 
peculiar  discursive  tone  which  a  man  assumes  when  he 
wishes  to  communicate  a  matter  of  particular  interest, 
as  if  it  were  one  of  no  interest  at  all, — "  as  Gaspard  is 
now  of  age,  too,  to  enter  the  service,  I  have  requested 
Monsieur  de  Bouillon  to  give  him  a  commission  in  one 
of  the  regiments  at  Bordeaux ;  but  I  have  not  forgotten 
you,  and  as  1  wish  you  always  to  be  near  me,  I  propose 
to  give  you  a  troop  in  the  regiment  of  cavalry  I  am  now 
raising. — Monsieur  de  Turenne  had  a  company  of  infan- 
try at  your  age,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  I  should  not 
do  the  same  for  you,  especially  as  I  have  a  great  lack 
of  officers  who  have  stood  fire." 

Although,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  would  much  rather  have 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  203 

entered  the  service  on  the  part  of  the  king  and  the 
court,  than  on  the  part  of  their  adversaries,  yet  the  idea 
of  activity  and  enterprise  seldom  came  amiss ;  and  I 
thanked  Monsieur  de  Villardin  sincerely  for  his  kind- 
ness, but  added,  that  I  trusted  he  would  find  the  means 
of  keeping  me  near  him. 

"  I  will  make  you  my  aid-de-camp,"  he  replied  ;  "  but 
we  have  a  number  of  other  arrangements  to  attend  to. 
Go,  therefore,  and  lie  down  for  two  or  three  hours,  a,nd 
then  join  me  in  the  esplanade  at  the  end  of  the  park." 

I  did  as  he  bade  me,  as  far  as  the  lying  down  went ; 
but,  though  tired  to  death,  I  could  not  sleep.  I  was 
much  refreshed,  however,  even  by  the  sort  of  repose  I 
obtained,  and  as  soon  as  I  thought  the  time  was  expired, 
I  got  up  and  walked  out  to  the  esplanade,  where  I  found 
that  Monsieur  de  Villardin  was  occupied  in  reviewing, 
or  rather  drilling,  the  regiment  he  had  been  employed 
in  raising  during  my  absence.  Four  hundred  men  made 
the  extent  of  his  force,  and  among  them  only  two,  who 
had  served  in  the  wars  of  Paris,  could  give  any  assist- 
ance in  matters  of  discipline,  if  we  except  half  a  dozen 
wild  young  nobles  of  the  neighbourhood,  who  had  joined 
the  corps  of  the  duke,  but  who  were  not  present  on  this 
occasion.  I  may  say,  then,  that  I  was  of  no  slight 
assistance  to  Monsieur  de  Villardin  on  that  and  the  fol- 
lowing day ;  for  though  he  was  undoubtedly  an  excel- 
lent officer,  yet,  of  course,  he  could  not  drill  four  hundred 
men  without  help  from  some  one.  The  cavaliers  with 
whom  we  had  to  deal  were  in  general  tall,  powerful 
men,  from  the  upper  districts  of  Brittany ;  and  though 
they  looked  stupid  enough  at  first,  yet  when  what  they 
were  to  do  was  explained  to  them,  they  proved  neither 
dull  of  comprehension  nor  slow  in  execution. 

That  which  pleased  me  more  than  any  thing  else  in 
the  whole  scene,  was  to  observe,  that,  while  in  actual 
exertion  and  activity,  the  deep  heavy  gloom  which  had 
overshadowed  the  countenance  of  the  duke  ever  since 
the  death  of  his  wife,  passed  away,  and  for  the  time  he 
was  himself  again.  This  change  only  lasted  for  the 
time,  it  is  true,  and  the  moment  he  turned  from  the 
esplanade  the  cloud  was  as  dark  and  stern  as  ever. 
Indeed,  this  observation  may  apply  to  the  whole  of  the 
rest  of  his  life.  In  the  field  1  have  often  seen  him 
cheerful,  and  even  gay  ;  but  the  moment  that  the  tem- 
porary stimulus  was  withdrawn,  he  would  fall  back  into 


204  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

a  deep  and  bitter  melancholy,  which  I  never  saw  eii- 
livened  even  by  a  smile.  Generally  after  supper  he 
retired  to  a  solitary  chamber,  and  there  remained  alone 
for  several  hours.  At  first  I  fancied  that  he  occupied 
himself  in  reading,  for  which  he  always  had  a  strong 
taste ;  but  being  obliged,  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
in  the  course  of  the  civil  strife  that  ensued,  to  break  in 
upon  his  retirement,  I  almost  always  found  him  im- 
mersed in  deep  thought,  with  his  cheek  resting  on  his 
hand;  and  never  saw  a  book  near  him  during  those 
hours  of  the  night  that  he  thus  passed  alone. 

On  our  return  from  the  esplanade,  which  did  not  take 
place  till  a  late  hour  of  the  evening,  we  found  Father 
Ferdinand  walking  in  the  flower-garden  with  Made- 
moiselle de  Villardin,  and  smiling  upon  all  her  young 
and  graceful  sports  with  that  bland  expression  of  re- 
flected enjoyment  which  sits  so  well  upon  the  lip  of 
age.  As  soon  as  the  little  Laura  beheld  me,  she  sprang 
Tip  as  usual  to  my  neck,  and,  making  a  sort  of  seat  of 
my  arm,  scolded  me  with  childish  vehemence  for  my 
long  absence. 

"  He  will  be  absent  from  you  still  longer,  my  sweet 
child,"  said  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  kissing  her  cheek ; 
"  and  therefore  you  must  remember  to  keep  far  from 
the  water,  as  there  will  be  no  one  there  to  save  you. 
Do  you  know,  my  good  father,"  he  added,  turning  to  the 
priest,  "  that  child  would  soon  make  me  a  very  coward  1 
The  only  thing  I  fear,  in  going  to  do  what  1  conceive  my 
duty,  is,  that  I  may  never  see  her  again." 

He  waited  for  no  reply,  but  turned  into  the  house,  and 
we  followed.  After  supper.  Father  Ferdinand  and  my- 
self were  left  alone,  and  1  now  learned  more  of  the 
arrangements  which  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  found  it 
necessary  to  make,  than  he  had  himself  communicated. 
As  Brittany  was  in  general  loyal,  and  the  governor 
most  decidedly  attached  to  the  court  against  which  the 
duke  was  now  in  arms,  he  had  determmed  upon  sending 
his  whole  household,  with  Mademoiselle  de  Villardin, 
and  every  thing  easily  moveable,  both  from  the  Pres 
Vallee  and  from  Dumont,  to  the  estates  of  his  late  wife 
at  Virmont  in  the  Orleanois,  where  his  daughter,  being 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  her  grand-uncle, 
Monsieur  de  Loris,  would,  he  fancied,  be  much  more 
safe  than  in  Brittany. 

"  They  have  already  arrested  the  wife  and  sister  of 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  205 

the  Duke  de  Bouillon,"  said  the  confessor ;  "  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  thinks,  that  if  they  imprison  women 
as  a  sort  of  surety  for  their  relatives,  they  may  equally 
well  imprison  children.  He  has  prevailed  upon  me," 
added  the  good  priest,  "  to  go  to  Virmont  also,  and  to 
superintend  the  education  of  his  daughter,  though  God 
knows  I  have  every  inducement  to  stay  in  this  province, 
and  no  worldly  motive  has  ever  been  able  to  make  me 
quit  it  hitherto.  Here  I  was  born ;"  he  continued, 
musing :  "  here  are  all  the  associations  of  my  infancy 
and  of  my  age  ;  nor  did  I  think  to  leave  it,  though  the 
duke  has  frequently  asked  me. — But  I  have  now  yielded 
to  another  voice  more  persuasive  than  his." 

"  Indeed  !"  I  said,  in  some  surprise  ;  and  he  instantly 
added,  more  in  answer  to  my  look  than  to  the  exclama- 
tion,— "  The  voice  of  my  own  heart,  my  son." 

The  conversation  then  rambled  on  in  a  desultory- 
manner;  and  the  worthy  father,  ere  we  parted,  gave 
me  an  infinity  of  good  advice,  which,  of  course,  I  was 
the  more  wilhng  to  take,  because  he  put  it  less  in  the 
dogmatical  form  of  directions  in  regard  to  my  own  con- 
duct, than  under  the  semblance  of  the  results  of  his  own 
experience  and  general  observations  upon  man  and  the 
world.  He  exacted  from  me  a  promise,  also,  that  I 
would  write  to  him  continually,  giving  him  not  only  an 
account  of  the  general  events  in  which  I  was  about  to 
mingle,  but  also  detailing  my  own  actions,  thoughts,  and 
feelings,  as  far  as  it  was  wise  and  prudent  to  do  so  by 
the  insecure  conveyance  of  the  post. 

"  In  your  letters  to  me,  my  son,"  he  added,  "  you  can- 
not be  too  minute  ;  for,  believe  me,  every  thing  that  con- 
cerns you,  your  health,  your  welfare,  the  progress  of 
your  mind,  and  the  success  of  your  fortunes,  are  all  a 
matter  of  interest  to  me  in  no  slight  degree." 

He  has  acknowledged  to  me  since,  that  his  chief  mo- 
tive, in  exacting  from  me  this  promise,  was  not  so  much 
the  desire  of  watching  over  my  conduct  himself,  as  the 
wish  to  add  a  sort  of  safeguard  to  all  the  good  princi- 
ples he  had  endeavoured  to  instil  into  my  mind ;  well 
knowing  that  the  sense  of  moral  responsibility  is  seldom 
so  vivid  in  youth  as  greatly  to  affect  our  actions,  unless 
some  co-operating  restraint  compels  us  continually  to 
examine  our  own  hearts  minutely.  He  did  not  choose 
to  suffer  his  motive  to  appear  at  the  moment,  however 
laudable  he  knew  it  to  be,  fully  understanding  that  my 


206  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

disposition  was  not  one  to  submit  to  any  checks  but 
those  I  chose  to  impose  upon  myself,  1  notice  this 
fact,  indeed,  more  as  a  slight  trait  of  that  petty  policy, 
which  the  good  father  suffered  to  mingle  with  his  other 
more  estimable  qualities,  than  from  any  effect  that  was 
produced  upon  myself;  as  my  absence  at  Bordeaux  was 
too  short,  and  the  circumstances  in  which  we  were 
placed  were  too  difficult  to  admit  of  any  extended  cor- 
respondence between  us  at  that  time. 

On  the  Thursday  morning  we  began  our  march,  and 
advanced  rapidly  towards  Bordeaux,  crossing  an  im- 
mense extent  of  country,  which  was  at  that  time  in  a 
state  of  disorganization  and  confusion,  which  nobody 
who  did  not  see  it  at  that  period  can  possibly  conceive. 
Indeed,  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  it :  for  no  one  liv- 
ing under  an  orderly  and  well-conducted  form  of  gov- 
ernment would  believe  that  such  a  complete  state  of 
anarchy  and  misrule  could  be  produced  throughout  a 
whole  country,  by  the  follies  and  dissensions  of  half  a 
dozen  unruly  and  ambitious  men.  Although  a  single 
regiment  would  at  any  time  have  stopped  us  on  our 
march,  it  not  only  seemed  that  no  regiment  was  to  be 
found  in  the  whole  tract  which  we  traversed ;  but  such 
was  the  state  of  apathy  and  confusion  that  reigned  in 
every  part  of  the  kingdom,  that  no  town  or  village 
through  which  we  passed  appeared  to  have  had  the 
slightest  intimation  of  our  approach  till  we  showed  our- 
selves in  its  streets.  Monsieur  de  Villardin  himself, 
quite  accustomed  to  the  sort  of  warfare  which  we  were 
pursuing,  advanced  direct  upon  Bordeaux  with  very  little 
caution,  taking  care,  indeed,  to  avoid  those  towns  which 
he  knew  to  be  garrisoned  for  the  court ;  but  heedless 
altogether, — at  least  so  it  seemed  to  me, — in  regard  to 
the  movements  of  our  enemies,  who  were  certainly 
marching  in  considerable  force  towards  the  same  point 
with  ourselves.  The  whole  business,  indeed,  was  con- 
ducted in  so  different  a  manner  from  that  which  I  had 
seen  in  our  civil  wars  in  England,  that  I  could  not  but 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  French  were  decidedly 
a  better-tempered  people  than  ray  own  countrymen;  and, 
without  being  braver,  that  they  bore  every  sort  of  mis- 
fortune, fatigue,  and  danger,  with  a  degree  of  light  care- 
lessness that  no  Englishman  could  have  affected,  much 
less  felt,  under  similar  circumstances. 

How  it  happened  that  we  did  not  encounter  the  army 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  207 

of  Monsieur  de  Meilleraie  I  cannot  at  all  explain,  as  we 
certainly  must  have  passed  within  five  miles  of  his  camp. 
So,  however,  it  did  happen  ;  and,  after  a  march  of  rather 
more  than  ten  days,  we  entered  the  city  of  Bordeaux, 
amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people,  and  the  rejoic- 
ings of  our  friends  and  partisans.  We  found  the  town, 
indeed,  in  a  very  unpromising  condition  for  undergoing 
a  siege.  Provision  and  stores,  it  is  true,  were  most 
abundant,  the  people  were  zealous  in  the  cause  of  the 
princes,  a  considerable  force  of  veteran  troops  were 
within  the  place,  and  the  generals  were  experienced  and 
determined  ;  but  the  fortifications  of  the  city  itself  were, 
to  all  appearance,  incompetent  to  resist  for  a  single  day 
the  attack  of  a  regular  army.  The  inhabitants  would 
not  hear  of  the  suburbs  being  destroyed  for  the  defence 
of  the  rest  of  the  city  ;  and  it  became  necessary  to  pro- 
tect them  also  against  the  enemy,  who  was  now  ap- 
proaching rapidly. 

Diligence  and  activity,  however,  remedied  many  de- 
fects. Several  redoubts  were  thrown  up  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Garonne  ;  the  old  castle  of  Blancfort,  which 
had  seen  the  days  of  the  Black  Prince,  was  destined 
once  more  to  receive  a  garrison ;  and  numbers  of  the 
citizens  worked  day  and  night  at  the  wall  and  trenches, 
in  order  to  put  them  in  a  state  for  resistance  before  the 
approach  of  the  royal  army.  By  this  time  the  Duke  of 
Epernon  was  within  a  few  miles  of  the  city,  and  the  first 
active  operations  were  undertaken  on  the  side  of  Blanc- 
fort, from  which  place  Monsieur  de  Chambon,  our  mare- 
chal  de  camp,  was  forced  to  make  a  precipitate  retreat. 
An  eff'ort  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  Bordelais  to  sup- 
port him,  in  which  our  regiment  took  a  share ;  but  the 
nature  of  the  ground  which  the  enemy  now  occupied, 
was  so  strong,  that  all  we  could  accomplish  was  to  cover 
the  retreat  of  the  marechal  de  camp,  which  was  now 
effected  without  difllculty  and  in  good  order.  On  that 
side  the  duke  was  held  at  bay ;  but  the  king  and  court 
were  by  this  time  at  Libourne,  while  Monsieur  de  Meil- 
leraie was  advancing  towards  the  faubourg  St.  Surin, 
which  seemed  quite  untenable ;  and  it  was  evident  that 
he  intended,  if  possible,  to  take  advantage  of  its  total 
want  of  defences,  in  order  to  storm  the  city  by  the  Porte 
Digeaux. 

It  so  happened,  however,  that  in  advance  of  the  gate 
was  a  dunghill,  on  which  had  been  thrown  a  consider- 


208  THE  ADVENTURES    OF 

able  quantity  of  rubbish,  left  by  some  improvements 
which  had  been  carried  on  about  two  years  before  in 
that  quarter  of  the  town,  the  whole  forming  an  eleva- 
tion of  a  few  feet,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  Porte 
Digeaux.  On  visiting  the  spot,  to  see  what  might  best 
be  done  for  the  defence  of  the  gate,  the  Dukes  of  Bou- 
illon and  Rouchefoucault,  together  with  Monsieur  de 
Villardin  and  several  others,  advanced  to  the  top  of  this 
little  mound,  in  order  to  gain  a  better  view  of  the  sur- 
rounding objects,  when  it  suddenly  struck  some  one,  I 
do  not  know  whom,  that  the  very  heap  on  which  they 
were  standing  might  be  converted  into  a  half-moon,  for 
the  defence  of  the  gate.  No  sooner  was  this  plan  pro- 
posed than  it  was  executed.  What  little  additions  the 
time  permitted  was  immediately  made  ;  and,  though  it 
was  utterly  impossible  either  to  erect  a  parapet  or  to 
dig  a  fosse,  a  dunghill  and  a  pile  of  rubbish  thus  became 
the  principal  defence  of  the  city  of  Bordeaux. 

Scarcely  were  these  preparations  complete,  when  the 
attack  upon  the  faubourg  commenced  ;  and,  while  the 
Marechal  de  Meilleraie  himself  proceeded  to  force  the 
barricades  which  had  been  erected  in  the  streets,  and 
were  defended  vigorously  by  the  Duke  de  Rochefoucault, 
a  detachment  was  sent  round  by  the  vineyards  and  corn- 
fields, in  order  to  turn  the  faubourg,  and  attack  the  half- 
moon  from  the  west.  This  part  of  the  plan,  however, 
had  been  foreseen  by  Monsieur  de  Bouillon  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  ;  and  although  the  marechal  succeeded 
in  forcing  the  barricades  in  the  faubourg,  the  detach- 
ment which  I  have  mentioned  got  entangled  among  the 
hedges  and  walls  of  the  vineyards,  which  had  been  pre- 
viously garnished  with  several  corps  of  infantry,  and  was 
glad  to  effect  its  retreat  with  the  loss  of  nearly  seven 
hundred  men. 

The  events  of  the  day  gave  great  encouragement  to 
the  people  of  Bordeaux ;  and,  though  we  found  it  very 
difficult  to  prevail  upon  the  men  to  defend  the  half-moon 
with  any  degree  of  regularity,  yet,  whenever  it  was 
attacked  by  the  enemy,  a  sudden  sorti  from  the  Porte 
Digeaux  and  one  of  the  neighbouring  posterns  suc- 
ceeded, in  all  instances,  in  repelling  the  assailants,  and 
sweeping  their  trenches  as  far  as  they  had  been  con- 
ducted. 

I  do  not  propose  to  give  any  minute  account  of  this 
well-known  siege.     The  part  1  took  in  it  was  little  more 


JOHN   MARSTON   HALL.  209 

than  that  of  a  common  soldier,  though,  by  volunteering 
my  services  upon  all  occasions  and  in  every  sort  of  oc- 
cupation, I  was  continually  in  the  midst  of  the  fire. 
By  a  species  of  stupidity,  or  perhaps  from  early  initia- 
tion into  such  scenes  of  peril,  I  have  never  been  able  to 
remember,  when  actually  engaged  in  battle,  that  there 
was  any  sort  of  danger  to  be  apprehended  ;  and  though, 
when  Monsieur  de  Villardin  and  the  Duke  de  Bouillon 
— who  about  this  time  took  a  good  deal  of  notice  of  me 
— reprehended  me  for  exposing  myself  madly,  as  they 
called  it,  I  used  to  make  very  strong  and  sincere  resolu- 
tions of  prudence  and  circumspection ;  yet,  whenever 
the  next  day  came,  and  I  found  myself  in  the  sally  or  on 
the  half-moon,  I  quite  forgot  to  look  out  for  the  danger, 
and  never  remembered  my  resolutions  till  I  was  once 
more  within  the  walls. 

Little  occurred  to  me  of  a  personal  nature,  during  the 
whole  of  my  residence  at  Bordeaux,  that  is  at  all  worth 
relating.  In  the  defence  I  endeavoured  to  do  my  duty ; 
and  under  such  circumstances  it  is  very  difficult  to  do 
more.  I  was  fortunate  enough,  however,  to  please 
those  who  commanded,  and  received  more  praise  for 
my  conduct  than  1  at  all  deserved.  As  I  was  scarcely 
ever  absent  from  the  point  of  attack,  my  more  peaceful 
operations  consisted  principally  in  eating,  drinking,  and 
sleeping ;  and,  as  I  knew  nobody  in  the  whole  town, 
besides  the  personal  attendants  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin, 
— with  the  exception  of  Gaspard  de  Belleville,  who  had 
now  obtained  a  commission  in  the  regiment  of  the  Duke 
de  Bouillon, — very  little  occurred  to  divert  my  thoughts 
even  for  a  moment  from  the  operations  of  the  siege. 
Gaspard  I  saw  but  seldom  ;  but  when  I  did  so,  we  met 
upon,  perhaps,  better  terms  than  we  had  done  in  the 
house  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin.  He  had  acquired  a 
great  deal  of  strut  and  swagger,  it  is  true,  upon  the 
strength  of  his  new  situation ;  but  by  this  time  he 
knew  me  too  well  to  provoke  me  deliberately,  and 
therefore,  always  maintained  a  degree  of  civility  with 
which  I  was  quite  satisfied.  1  fancied,  indeed,  now  he 
had  left  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  and  had  embarked  in  an 
entirely  new  course  of  life,  that  the  jealousy  with 
which  he  had  regarded  me,  on  account  of  the  duke's 
preference  for  myself,  had  become  extinct,  and  that  his 
hatred  was  consequently  at  an  end ;  but  in  this  I  after- 


210  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

ward  found  that  I  was  mistaken.  I  had  but  little  op- 
portunity of  observing  his  general  conduct,  but,  from 
that  which  I  did  see  of  it,  I  should  say,  that,  though 
not  wanting  in  courage,  he  was  at  this  time  any  thing 
but  enterprising :  and  that  the  great  favour  which  he 
obtained  with  his  commander  was  principally  acquired 
by  those  somewhat  servile  and  insinuating  manners, 
which  he  knew  well  how  to  put  on  towards  his  supe- 
riors, though  he  was  insufferably  insolent  and  domi- 
neering to  every  one  below  him. 

One  httle  adventure  1  certainly  did  meet  with,  which, 
though  it  produced  no  results  at  the  time,  I  could  not 
help  connecting  in  my  own  mind  with  the  presence  of 
Gaspard  de  Belleville  in  Bordeaux.  Having  returned  to 
my  own  lodging,  in  the  evening  of  the  sixth  day  of  the 
siege,  in  order  to  get  something  to  eat,  as  I  had  not 
tasted  food  since  the  night  before,  I  was  suddenly 
disturbed  at  my  supper,  by  a  cry  of  "  Alerte  !  Alerte  ! — 
to  the  walls  !  to  the  walls  !"  and,  hurrying  on  as  fast  as 
possible,  I  was  proceeding  towards  the  Porte  Digeaux, 
when,  at  the  corner  of  the  narrow  streets,  I  ran  acci- 
dentally against  a  lady  handsomely  dressed,  and,  nearly 
knocking  her  down,  struck  out  of  her  hand  the  black 
velvet  mask,  called  a  loup,  which  was  then  very  gene- 
rally used  by  women  in  the  higher  classes^  under  the 
pretext  of  defending  their  complexions  from  the  sun  or 
from  the  sharp  air.  Stooping  hurriedly  down,  I  picked 
up  the  mask,  and  returning  it  to  the  lady,  raised  my 
eyes  to  her  face,  for  the  first  time,  as  I  did  so.  My 
surprise  was  not  a  little,  I  confess,  to  see  in  such 
gay  habiliments  Madame  Suzette,  the  suivante  of  the 
late  unhappy  Duchesse  de  Villardin.  She  had  recog- 
nised me  sooner,  and  was  gazing  on  me  with  an  expres- 
sion of  countenance  which  I  shall  not  easily  forget, — 
such  a  strange  mixture  of  coquetry,  and  hatred,  and  self- 
satisfied  vanity  did  it  display.  Taking  back  her  mask,  she 
continued  to  gaze  at  me  till  she  saw  me  about  to  speak ; 
and  then  applying  it  to  her  face,  she  turned  upon  her 
heel  with  an  air  of  insolent  scorn,  and,  tripping  down 
the  street,  left  me  to  pursue  my  way  to  the  walls. 
Nor,  during  the  rest  of  the  siege,  did  I  see  her  again, 
although  I  think  1  should  have  recognised  her  in  despite 
of  her  loup. 

For  thirteen  days  the  siege  was  continued  with  great 
activity ;  the  half-moon  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  211 

Bordelais,  provisions  were  plenty,  and  the  determina- 
tion of  the  populace  was  but  little  shaken.  However, 
the  Marechal  de  Meilleraie,  finding  his  attack  upon  the 
Porte  Digeaux  unavailing,  entered  upon  a  new  plan  of 
operations,  and  pushed  his  trenches  on  the  other  side 
of  the  town,  in  the  gardens  between  the  archbishop's 
palace  and  the  convent  called  the  Chartron.  Our 
proper  quarters  in  the  town  lay  in  that  very  neighbour- 
hood ;  Monsieur  de  Villardin  having  been  assigned  a 
house  by  the  side  of  the  cathedral  of  St.  Andrew,  and 
his  men  being  billeted  in  the  streets  round  about  him. 
We  could  do  nothing,  however,  to  stay  the  progress 
of  the  besiegers  :  the  trenches  were  carried  on  rapidly, 
and,  notwithstanding  sallies  innumerable,  a  battery  of 
six  pieces  of  cannon  opened  upon  the  curtain,  and  very 
soon  effected  a  practicable  breach. 

Of  course,  all  was  now  anxiety  in  the  city;  and 
though  the  generals  did  every  thing  in  their  power  to 
keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  Bordelais,  assuring  them  that 
the  breach  was  not  practicable,  that  internal  works 
should  be  thrown  up  during  the  night  to  remedy  the  evil, 
and  that  they  themselves,  with  their  own  followers,  and 
the  volunteers  from  the  town,  would  undertake  to  make 
good  their  defence  against  all  the  troops  which  could 
be  brought  to  act  upon  that  point,— the  people  evidently 
lost  heart ;  tumultuous  meetings  were  held  in  different 
parts  of  the  city ;  and  1  acknowledge,  that  the  only 
choice  left  for  us  appeared  to  me  either  to  be  given  up  by 
the  inhabitants  as  a  sort  of  peace-offering  to  the  court, 
or,  at  least,  to  die  in  the  breach,  defending  a  town  that 
was  no  longer  defensible. 

Such,  I  believe,  was  the  general  opinion  also  of  the 
principal  officers  and  gentlemen  engaged  in  the  cause 
of  the  princes  ;  and  it  became  a  very  difficult  question 
how  to  act.  Nor  were  the  Bordelais  themselves  more 
decided.  A  number  of  generous  voices  were  raised 
against  the  very  idea  of  delivering  up  the  noblemen  who 
had  trusted  them,  to  their  bitter  enemies  ;  but  the  great 
multitude,  which  never  knows  any  mean  between  rash- 
ness and  timidity,  called  loudly  upon  their  rulers  to 
make  peace  with  the  court  at  every  sacrifice. 

From  this  unpleasant  situation  both  parties  were 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly  relieved.  While  the  magis- 
trates were  in  debate  in  one  place,  and  the  generals 
were  in  debate  in  another,  and  while  the  people,  col* 


212  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

lected  in  every  street  and  market-place,  were  murmur- 
ing at  their  fate,  and  shouting  against  those  who  had 
brought  it  upon  them,  the  news  suddenly  reached  us 
that  a  deputation  from  the  parliament  of  Paris  had  ar- 
rived at  the  gates,  offering  to  negotiate  a  treaty  be- 
tween the  defenders  of  Bordeaux  and  the  besieging 
force.  Every  one  caught  gladly  at  the  idea ;  a  sus- 
pension of  hostilities  was  immediately  granted,  and 
deputies,  both  from  the  city  and  the  generals,  returned 
with  the  Parisians  to  the  town  of  Bourg,  at  which 
place  the  whole  court  was  assembled.  The  queen, 
timid  and  vacillating,  did  not  understand  or  believe 
how  completely  the  city  was  in  her  power.  Mazarin, 
unwilling  to  bring  upon  himself  the  overwhelming 
odium  of  destroying  such  a  number  of  the  noblest 
families  in  France  as  were  then  cooped  up  in  the  city, 
did  not  press  for  any  hard  conditions  ;  and  I  rather  sus- 
pect that  the  Marechal  de  Meilleraie,  having  a  great 
number  of  friends  among  the  besieged,  rested  satisfied 
with  feeling  that  he  had  the  city  in  his  power,  if  he 
were  forced  to  proceed,  without  making  known  the  full 
advantage  of  his  situation  to  those  who  might  have 
been  inclined  to  use  it  ungenerously. 

The  result,  however,  was,  that  the  truce  was  ex- 
tended to  six  days,  and  that  during  that  time  negotia- 
tions were  carried  on,  which  terminated  in  a  treaty  of 
peace,  infinitely  more  favourable  than  the  defenders  of 
Bordeaux  could  have  hoped  or  expected.  It  was  agreed 
that  full  and  free  pardon  should  be  given  to  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  town,  into  which  the  court  should  enter, 
unaccompanied  by  any  other  troops  than  an  ordinary 
guard ;  that  the  Princess  de  Conde  and  her  son  might 
retire  in  safety  to  Montrond,  and  that  a  general  pardon 
should  be  given  to  all  the  other  persons  concerned 
directly  or  indirectly  in  the  resistance  offered  by  the 
city  to  the  royal  forces,  upon  the  sole  condition  that 
the  leaders  should  solemnly  pledge  themselves  never  to 
bear  arms  against  the  king  again. 


JOHN   MARSTON  HALL.  2l3 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

As  soon  as  the  treaty  had  been  duly  signed,  the  Prin- 
cess de  Conde,  with  four  of  her  principal  supporters,  of 
whom  Monsieur  de  Villardin  was  one,  set  out  for  Bourg, 
where  they  were  as  kindly  received  and  as  hospitably 
treated  by  the  court  as  if  they  had  never  borne  arms 
against  the  throne.  The  whole  party  was  splendidly 
entertained  at  the  lodging  of  the  cardinal  prime  minis- 
ter ;  and  on  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  return  to  Bordeaux, 
I  found  that  no  slight  impression  had  been  made  on  his 
mind  by  the  gracious  and  unexpected  reception  he  had 
met. 

The  young  king  himself,  he  informed  me,  had  conde- 
scended to  press  him  to  take  an  active  part  in  his  ser- 
vice ;  and  I  gathered  that  the  duke  had  replied  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that,  as  soon  as  the 
princes  were  set  at  liberty,  there  would  be  none  more 
zealous  and  indefatigable  in  the  royal  cause  than  him- 
self. Determined  upon  conducting  his  troops  back  to 
Brittany  in  person,  the  duke  despatched  me  with  three 
or  four  servants  across  the  country  to  Virmont,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  notice  to  Father  Ferdinand  and  Made- 
moiselle de  Villardin,  that  he  was  safe  and  well,  and 
would  speedily  join  us  in  the  Orleanois. 

Very  well  comprehending  how  glad  the  duke  was  to 
find  a  fair  excuse  for  taking  up  his  residence  in  a  part 
of  the  country  which  was  less  painfully  associated  in 
his  mind  than  that  which  he  had  lately  inhabited,  I  ven- 
tured to  press  him  to  be  the  bearer  of  his  own  good 
news  to  Virmont,  and  to  suffer  me  to  conduct  the  regi- 
ment back  to  Brittany,  which  I  argued  he  might  very 
well  do,  as  almost  all  the  other  commanders  were  at 
once  dismissing  their  men,  and  suffering  them  to  find 
their  way  home  as  they  best  might.  His  ideas  of  duty, 
however,  were  in  this  respect  far  more  strict  than  those 
of  the  other  generals  ;  and,  adhering  to  his  determina- 
tion, he  began  his  march  on  the  following  day,  while  I 
set  out  for  Virmont. 

I  had  now  to  travel  through  a  part  of  the  country  I 


dl4  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

had  never  seen ;  and  a  rich  and  splendid  land  it  was. 
No  armies  had  passed  for  several  years  along  the  exact 
tract  which  I  took ;  and  as  I  compared  the  smiling 
abundance  of  every  thing  around  me  with  the  scenes  of 
devastation  and  ruin  I  had  so  often  seen,  new  estima- 
tions of  many  things  on  this  earth  began  to  present 
themselves  to  my  mind,  and  I  got  even  as  far  as  to  ad- 
mit that — whatever  charms  a  military  life  might  have — 
it  would  be  a  sad  and  terrible  act  to  change  such  pros- 
pects of  beauty  and  happiness  to  scenes  of  ruin  and  deso- 
lation. The  gradual  progress  of  all  these  slow  altera- 
tions in  my  own  mind  and  feelings,  working  themselves 
out  one  after  another  through  life,  has  been  a  subject  of 
curious  investigation  to  myself;  and  as  I  write  for  my 
own  amusement,  I  shall  still  continue  to  put  them  down 
as  they  occur  to  my  remembrance. 

The  first  feeling  that  in  my  bosom  tended  most  cer- 
tainly to  soften  all  the  rest,  was  a  growing  taste  for  the 
beauties  of  nature,  of  every  kind  and  description ;  and 
as  I  approached  Virmont,  the  warm  and  luxuriant  banks 
of  the  Loire  struck  me  with  the  same  pleasurable  sensa- 
tions as  I  had  experienced  on  seeing  the  deep  shades 
and  tranquil  stillness  of  the  Pres  Vallee.  Crossing  the 
Loire  at  Gien,  I  turned  to  the  right,  and  a  little  beyond 
Blenau  was  directed  by  the  peasantry  to  the  chateau  de 
Virmont,  which  was  situated  in  a  dry  and  sandy  soil, 
and  surrounded  by  some  rich  but  rather  wild  scenery. 
The  house  itself  was  not  a  very  large  one,  but  it  pos- 
sessed various  advantages  which  were  not  to  be  found  at 
either  Dumont  or  the  Pres  Vallee,  and,  especially  in  my 
eyes,  was  preferable  to  either  of  them,  from  being  to- 
tally unconnected  with  the  dark  and  gloomy  remem-^ 
brances  that  hung  like  a  boding  cloud  over  both  the 
others. 

Here  I  found  Mademoiselle  de  Villardin  with  both 
Father  Ferdinand  and  her  worthy  relation,  the  good  old 
Count  de  Loris ;  and  great  was  the  joy  of  all  parties  on 
hearing,  not  the  successful  issue  of  our  undertaking,  but 
the  safe  and  fortunate  manner  in  which  it  had  terminated, 
after  promising  much  less  pleasant  results.  I  think 
the  ten  days  that  followed  were  among  the  happiest  of 
my  whole  life.  1  was  in  the  society  of  three  people, 
each  of  whom — though  very  different  from  each  other — I 
loved ;  I  was  in  a  beautiful  scene  where  all  was  new ;  I 
was  myself  caressed  and  applauded  by  every  one ;  there 


JOHN   MARSTON    HALL.  215 

was  no  violent  passion,  either  good  or  evil,  in  my  bosom  ; 
and  there  was  no  restraint  upon  my  actions.  Even 
after  we  were  joined  by  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  although 
the  deep  melancholy  which  had  now  resumed  its  place 
in  his  demeanour,  of  course  cast  a  degree  of  gloom  over 
the  whole  household;  and  though  I  especially  felt 
grieved  and  pained  to  witness  the  bitter  sorrow  that 
preyed  upon  the  heart  of  a  man  to  whom  I  was  sincerely 
attached,  still  the  days  passed  pleasantly  enough ;  and, 
treated  in  every  respect  as  if  I  had  been  the  duke's  own 
son,  I  had  every  reason  to  be  content  with  my  condition. 

The  passing  of  such  days  will  not  bear  detail ;  but  in 
the  mean  time  events  were  taking  place  in  other  parts 
of  France  that  again  called  us  into  active  life.  In  Paris, 
the  popular  faction  called  the  Fronde,  at  the  head  of 
which,  as  I  have  before  said,  were  the  Archbishop  coad- 
jutor de  Retz  and  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  had  begun  to 
take  umbrage  at  the  kindness  which  Mazarin  and  the 
court  had  shown  to  the  defenders  of  Bordeaux;  and 
knowing  very  well  that  the  minister  had  only  employed 
their  party  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  himself  from 
the  Prince  de  Conde  and  his  friends,  the  popular  lead- 
ers began  to  suspect  that  Mazarin,  as  soon  as  it  suited 
him,  would  make  what  conditions  he  pleased  with  the 
imprisoned  princes,  and  set  them  at  liberty  without  the 
intervention  of  the  Fronde.  The  success  of  the  war  in 
Guyenne  had  raised  the  minister  higher  than  they  liked 
also  ;  and  the  cardinal,  foolishly  believing  himself  quite 
secure,  soon  began  to  treat  the  Frondeurs  with  very 
little  ceremony. 

The  Viscount  de  Turenne,  it  is  true,  was  still  in  arms 
in  Champagne,  but  the  good  fortune  of  Mazarin  was 
again  triumphant  in  this  instance,  as  if  on  purpose  to 
make  him  think  himself  beyond  the  power  of  fate. 

The  Marechal  du  Plessis  Praslin,  an  experienced 
officer,  but  one  certainly  inferior  to  Turenne  in  every 
respect,  was  sent  against  the  only  formidable  opponent 
of  the  court  that  now  remained,  and,  after  various  ma- 
noeuvres on  both  parts,  completely  defeated  Turenne, 
who  fled  to  Bar-le-Duc,  accompanied  only  by  five  hun- 
dred horse.  This  success  increased  the  pride  of  Maza- 
rin, and  taught  him  vainly  to  imagine  that  he  could  at 
length  put  down  the  faction  which  had  so  long  either 
ruled  or  disorganized  the  state ;  and  although  the  par- 
ties of  the  court  and  the  Fronde  had,  for  a  time,  unna- 


216  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

turally  united  for  the  ruin  of  Conde  and  his  family,  they 
now  found  that  the  moment  was  come  when  the  strug- 
gle between  themselves  was  to  be  renewed.  Each  de- 
termined upon  the  liberation  of  the  princes  ;  but  Maza- 
rin  sought  to  obtain  more  from  the  prisoners  than  the 
Fronde  were  inclined  to  demand ;  and  he  consequently 
temporized  too  long,  while  De  Retz  and  Beaufort  stirred 
up  the  people  and  the  parliament ;  and  the  cry  for  the 
liberation  of  Conde  became  as  general  among  the  Pari- 
sians as  the  rejoicings  for  his  imprisonment  had  been 
about  a  year  before.  The  Duke  of  Orleans,  also  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  kingdom,  always  weak  and  always 
false,  abandoned  once  more  the  cause  of  the  minister. 
The  cry  for  the  liberation  of  the  princes  was  succeeded 
by  a  clamour  for  the  exile  of  Mazarin.  After  many  inef- 
fectual struggles,  the  queen  regent  was  obliged  to  yield 
her  favourite  to  popular  turbulence,  and  the  minister  fled 
from  the  court  happy  to  escape  with  life.  The  very 
next  morning,  the  parliament  of  Paris,  which  not  long 
before  had  condemned  a  man  to  death  for  publishing  a 
libel  against  the  cardinal,  now  found  reasons  for  declar- 
ing him  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace,  and  for  passing 
sentence  of  outlawry  against  him  ;  and  the  people  and 
the  parliament  prepared  to  liberate  with  joy  the  princes 
who  had  so  lately  been  the  objects  of  their  execrations. 
Mazarin,  however,  outstripped  them  in  that  very  de- 
sign ;  and  wishing  to  take  the  credit  of  the  act  to  him- 
self, no  sooner  had  he  quitted  the  capital,  than,  proceed- 
ing to  Havre,  whither  Conde  and  his  companions  had 
been  removed,  he  threw  open  their  prison  doors,  and 
himself  announced  their  liberation.  The  princes  treated 
him  with  the  contempt  he  merited,  and  the  disgraced 
minister,  finding  himself  without  resource,  fled  from  a 
country  to  which  he  was  destined  to  return,  after  a  very 
short  lapse  of  time,  more  powerful  than  ever. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Prince  de  Conde  was  to 
write  a  letter  of  thanks  to  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  for 
the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  late  events  :  and  he  conde- 
scended especially  to  notice  my  somewhat  dangerous 
enterprise  in  finding  my  way  into  Vincennes,  for  the 
purpose  of  communicating  to  him  the  plan  framed  by 
Gourville  for  his  deliverance.  He  added,  that  he  might 
have  supposed  I  had  deceived  him,  as  the  scheme  was 
never  put  in  execution,  but  that  he  had  learned  from 
other  sources  the  cause  vi^hich  prevented  the  attempt ; 


JOHN    MARSTON    HALL.  217 

and  he  concluded  by  assuring  Monsieur  de  Villardin 
that,  if  he  could  point  out  any  object  which  either  he  or 
I  desired,  the  whole  influence  of  the  house  of  Conde 
should  be  exerted  to  obtain  it  for  us.  This  probably 
might  have  led  me  into  other  scenes,  and  indeed  might 
have  changed  the  complexion  of  my  whole  after-life, 
had  not  events  arisen  which  soon  placed  the  prince  in 
a  state  of  fiercer  opposition  to  the  court  than  ever. 

Anne  of  Austria  resolved  to  recall  her  favourite  Maz- 
arin  :  Conde  himself,  aspiring  to  govern  the  state,  was 
determined  that  the  minister  should  remain  in  exile. 
Means  were  soon  found  to  embroil  him  with  the  party 
of  the  Fronde ;  and  the  prince  at  length  made  up  his 
mind  both  to  revenge  himself  upon  those  who  had 
caused  his  imprisonment,  and  to  strike  boldly  for  the 
supreme  power  by  force  of  arms.  Having  once  taken 
his  resolution,  he  pursued  it  with  all  that  fearless  decis- 
ion which  rendered  him  a  great  general,  but  more  than 
once  made  him  a  bad  subject.  Retiring  from  Paris,  he 
negotiated  with  all  his  former  friends  and  adherents  ; 
and,  carrying  his  measures  still  farther,  treated  with 
Spain  itself,  the  open  and  declared  enemy  of  his  native 
country.  From  that  crown  he  received  every  assur- 
ance of  assistance  that  he  could  desire,  which  assur- 
ances were  fulfilled  to  the  letter ;  but  with  his  former 
partisans  in  France  he  was  not  by  any  means  so  suc- 
cessful. His  causes  of  complaint  against  the  court  were 
not  at  all  such  as  to  justify  the  violent  and  ruinous  mea- 
sures he  was  pursuing.  His  own  ambitious  motives 
were  apparent  to  every  eye,  and  an  immense  change  of 
circumstances  had  been  effected  by  the  simple  fact  of 
the  young  king  having  attained  his  majority.  What 
people  might  affect  to  consider  a  struggle  between  the 
different  powers  of  the  state  for  the  administration  of 
the  realm  during  the  infancy  of  the  king,  could  now  be 
looked  upon  in  no  other  light  than  as  actual  rebellion 
against  the  royal  authority.  The  Duke  of  Bouillon, — 
tied  by  the  engagement  made  at  Bourg,  and  seeing  the 
present  situation  of  the  prince  in  a  very  different  light 
from  that  in  which  his  position,  while  under  im- 
prisonment, had  appeared  to  him — positively  refused  to 
take  part  in  his  rebellion,  though  the  regiment  he  had 
raised,  officers  and  soldiers,  went  over  to  the  party  of 
Conde.  Turenne  followed  the  example  of  his  brother 
the  Due  de  Bouillon,  and  declined  to  act  with  the  prince 

Vol.  I.— K 


218  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

against  the  court.  Monsieur  de  Villardin  also,  in  reply 
to  a  letter  from  Conde  upon  the  subject,  while  he  as- 
sured him  of  his  unabated  personal  regard,  informed 
him  plainly  that  he  not  only  would  refuse  all  participa- 
tion in  new  schemes  against  the  court,  but  would  con- 
sider himself  bound  to  serve  against  any  one  found  in 
rebellion  to  the  royal  authority,  now  that  the  monarch 
had  attained  his  majority. 

Conde  still,  however,  pursued  his  plan,  and  but  too 
many  were  found  to  give  him  support  in  its  execution. 
Nor  did  he  calculate  alone,  it  would  seem,  upon  his  pres- 
ent partisans,  and  upon  the  assistance  of  Spain ;  but, 
knowing  the  levity  of  all  political  characters  in  that  day, 
he  reckoned  boldly  upon  a  great  number  of  his  present 
enemies  coming  over  to  his  side,  and  foresaw,  it  would 
appear,  that  the  approaching  recall  of  Mazarin  would 
soon  induce  the  Fronde  itself  to  co-operate  directly 
or  indirectly  in  his  schemes.  Retiring  upon  Gui- 
enne,  which,  from  various  causes,  was  almost  always 
ready  for  revolt,  he  at  length  absolutely  raised  the 
standard  of  rebellion  against  the  king.  A  large  body  of 
troops,  called  the  Corps  de  Conde,  abandoned  the  royal 
army  on  the  frontiers  of  Flanders,  and  went  over  at 
once  to  the  Spanish  force,  which  was  now  leagued  with 
the  prince.  Considerable  bodies  of  troops  joined  him 
in  Bordeaux,  a  great  part  of  Berri  took  arms  in  his  fa- 
vour, and,  once  more,  the  flame  of  civil  war  was  lighted 
throughout  the  land. 

Negotiations  were  immediately  entered  into  between 
the  court  and  all  those  officers  who  had  refused,  on  the 
present  occasion,  to  serve  with  the  prince.  Of  these, 
Monsieur  de  Villardin  was  of  course  one ;  and  full  pow- 
ers were  given  to  him  to  raise  a  regiment  in  the  name 
of  the  king,  with  a  great  many  other  marks  of  the  royal 
favour  and  confidence.  He  accepted  the  task  without 
hesitation,  and  declared  his  positive  determination  never 
to  suffer  any  circumstances  to  induce  him  again  to  op- 
pose the  royal  authority ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  in  the 
vain  hope  that  other  events  would  cause  Conde  to  make 
his  submission,  he  delayed  as  long  as  possible  taking  any 
active  part  in  the  warlike  operations  against  his  friend, 
under  the  pretence  of  requiring  some  time  to  complete 
his  preparations. 

In  the  mean  time  Conde  had  lost  no  time,  but  was 
making  such  progress  in  Guienne  that  the  whole  couiir 


JOHN   MARSTOI<]    HALL.  219 

tiy  began  to  take  alarm  at  his  success.  The  Count  de 
Harcourt,  however,  soon  after  checked  his  advance  on 
the  side  of  Cogniac  ;  and  the  Marechal  de  Gramont, 
marching  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops  towards 
Langon,  threatened  to  turn  the  flank  of  the  prince's 
army.  Each  of  the  royal  generals  commanded  more 
men,  and  better  disciplined  forces,  than  those  which 
followed  Conde,  and  the  prince  found  himself  obliged 
to  choose  between  fighting  under  disadvantages  which 
must  have  proved  fatal,  or  temporizing  with  the  court, 
in  order  to  give  time  for  a  diversion  to  be  eifected  in  his 
favour.  He  accordingly,  with  consummate  policy,  made 
overtures  to  the  queen  for  permitting  the  return  of 
Mazarin.  The  queen,  whose  partiality  for  her  minister 
did  not  permit  her  to  see  what  Conde,  as  I  have  before 
said,  had  at  once  perceived,  that  the  recall  of  the  car- 
dinal would  immediately  throw  the  whole  party  of  the 
Fronde,  together  with  the  parliament  and  a  great  body 
of  the  people,  entirely  into  the  hands  of  the  rebeUious 
prince,  caught  eagerly  at  the  idea  of  the  minister's 
return.  Not  only  did  she  give  Conde  both  time  and 
repose  by  negotiating,  at  a  moment  when  her  generals 
might  have  pushed  their  advantage  to  his  complete  over- 
throw ;  but,  blindly  running  before  the  negotiation,  she 
despatched  courier  after  courier  to  Mazarin,  without  at 
all  requiring  that  the  prince  should  commit  himself  with 
the  Fronde  by  joining  in  the  recall  of  the  obnoxious 
Italian. 

Mazarin  lost  no  time,  but,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of 
troops  which  he  had  raised  in  Germany,  he  entered 
France,  and  being  immediately  joined  by  the  royal  army 
in  Champagne,  advanced  at  once  across  the  country 
towards  Poitiers.  All  that  Conde  had  foreseen  now 
took  place  :  the  Fronde,  the  parliament,  the  people, 
were  astonished  and  indignant  at  the  unexpected  return 
of  the  hated  minister.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  obtained  a 
decree  from  the  parliament  of  Paris,  commanding  all 
governors  of  towns  to  arrest  him  in  his  progress ;  a  re- 
ward of  fifty  thousand  crowns  was  offered  for  his  head  ; 
an  army  was  raised  by  the  Due  de  Beaufort,  who  effected 
his  junction  with,  the  Duke  de  Nemours,  the  strongest 
partisan  of  the  Prince  de  Conde,  and  their  united  forces 
were  joined  by  a  large  body  of  Spaniards,  which  had 
been  promised  some  time  before.  At  the  same  time  the 
Duke  de  Rohan,  governor  of  Anjou,  declared  for  Conde, 
K2 


S20  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

with  the  whole  province  that  he  commanded,  and  every 
part  of  the  empire  seemed  rising  at  once  against  the 
authority  of  the  court. 

Monsieur  de  ViDardin  now  found  that  it  was  no  longer 
a  time  for  hesitation,  and  that  if  all  the  royalists  remained 
inactive,  the  constitution  of  the  country  itself  must 
be  overthrown.  The  greater  part  of  the  regiment  which 
had  served  with  him  at  Bordeaux  had  been  again  collected 
by  his  orders  in  Brittany ;  three  or  four  more  troops 
were  easily  raised  in  the  Orleanois ;  the  whole  had  been 
more  perfectly  disciplined  during  the  time  he  had  re- 
mained in  inactivity  than  they  had  even  been  before, 
and  the  moment  that  he  heard  of  the  general  revolt,  he 
despatched  couriers  to  the  court  at  Poitiers,  to  announce 
that  he  was  on  his  march  to  support  its  cause,  with  an 
effective  force  of  twelve  hundred  men.  This  reinforce- 
ment was  a  matter  of  no  small  consequence  to  a  royal 
army  in  those  days ;  and  the  pleasure  that  this  news 
occasioned  to  the  young  king  and  his  court  was  greatly 
increased  from  the  circumstances  of  the  time  at  which 
Monsieur  de  Villardin's  declaration  arrived,  and  from  the 
hope  it  held  out  of  others  following  his  example. 

A  new  era  was  now  opening  for  me.  One  of  the 
troops  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin's  regiment,  raised  by 
the  authority  of  the  king  himself,  had  been  given  to  me, 
and  the  high  road  to  honour  and  promotion  was  now 
thrown  wide  before  me.  The  political  events  which  I 
have  narrated  above  had  occupied  a  considerable  space 
of  time,  so  that  I  was  now  more  than  seventeen.  The 
little  property  which  the  kindness  of  Lord  Masterton 
and  of  Monsieur  de  Villardin  had  bestowed  upon  me, 
was  more  than  sufficient  for  all  my  wants  and  wishes ; 
my  troop  was  as  fine  and  well  disciplined  a  one  as  any 
in  the  service;  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  February  I 
commenced  my  march  with  Monsieur  de  Villardin,  full 
of  all  the  hopes  of  youth,  although  I  had  been  prema- 
turely taught  the  experience  of  manhood.  I  do  not 
know  that  such  a  combination  of  the  two  is  either 
pleasant  or  beneficial  to  him  who  possesses  them  ;  and 
I  do  believe  that  nature's  plan  is  the  best,  in  joining 
youthful  experience  to  youthful  passions.  For  my 
own  part  I  may  safely  say,  that  having  by  the  circum- 
stances of  my  early  days  been  carried  too  far  forward 
all  through  life,  I  have  always  found  that  it  was  painful 
to  be  older  than  one's  years. 


JOHN  MARSTON   HALL.  221 

We  conducted  our  march  as  rapidly  as  possible  to- 
wards Poitiers,  and  I  remember  nothing  worth  relating 
that  occurred  on  the  way.  We  found,  however,  at  that 
town,  that  the  court  and  army  had  proceeded  to  Sau- 
mur,  and  following  it  thither,  with  only  a  day's  halt,  we 
again  approached  the  Loire.  We  were  welcomed  with 
infinite  joy,  and  I  was  presented  by  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin  to  the  minister  and  to  the  young  king,  by  both 
of  whom  I  was  treated  with  great  kindness.  The 
former  was  an  elderly  man  of  mild  and  insinuating 
manners,  but  with  nothing  either  impressive  or  grace- 
ful in  his  demeanour  :  the  latter  was  a  youth  of  a  fine 
intelligent  countenance,  but  apparently  far  more  occu- 
pied with  the  thoughts  of  field  sports  and  courtly  gal- 
lantries than  affairs  of  state  or  war. 

The  royal  army  at  this  time  was  commanded  by 
Marshals  Turenne  and  d'Hocquincourt ;  and  Monsieur 
de  Villardin  immediately  received  such  an  appointment 
under  the  command  of  the  former  as  suited  his  rank 
and  experience.  We  found,  however,  that  our  long 
march  to  Saumur  might  have  been  spared  us,  for  with- 
in four  days  after  our  arrival  it  was  announced  that, 
quiet  being  restored  in  Anjou,  and  the  Prince  de  Conde 
being  kept  in  check  by  the  Count  de  Harcourt  and  the 
Marechal  de  Gramont,  the  king  intended  to  return  im- 
mediately to  Paris,  in  order  to  take  measures  against 
the  combined  force  of  Spaniards  and  insurgents  which 
was  rapidly  traversing  Champagne,  and  advancing  to- 
wards the  Nivernois.  The  next  morning  the  order 
to  march  was  given ;  and  following  the  course  of  the 
Loire,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  large  towns 
situated  upon  that  river,  we  passed  through  Tours, 
Amboise,  and  Blois,  finding  the  country  in  general 
loyal,  and  willing  to  receive  the  royal  army.  Orleans, 
however,  shut  her  gates  against  us ;  and  as  our  own 
force  was  small,  while  the  enemy,  to  the  number  of 
fifteen  thousand  men,  had  already  entered  the  Orlea- 
nois,  the  attempt  to  reduce  the  city  by  force  would  have 
been  in  vain. 

Both  the  court  and  the  generals  were  now  eager  to 
meet  the  Dukes  of  Nemours  and  Beaufort,  who  com- 
manded the  adverse  force  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
and  between  whom  dissensions  were  said  to  exist  which 
were  likely  to  neutralize  entirely  the  superiority  of 
their  forces  :  but  none,  certainly,  was  more  desirous 


222  THE    ADVENTURES    OF 

of  dislodging  them  from  the  post  than  Monsieur  de  Vil- 
lardin,  inasmuch  as  they  occupied  a  position  extending 
from  Montargis  to  the  Loire,  in  a  line  drawn  directly 
between  Lorris  and  Virmont,  at  the  latter  of  which 
places  we  had  left  Mademoiselle  de  Villardin,  now  a 
pretty  little  girl  of  about  eleven  years  old.  Ere  any 
thing  else  would  be  attempted,  it  was  necessary  to 
secure  the  bridge  of  Gergeaux,  lest  the  enemy  should 
pass  the  river  and  fall  upon  our  rear.  This,  however, 
was  not  to  be  done  without  some  trouble,  as  the  bridge 
had  already  been  seized  by  M.  de  I'Etouf,  lieutenant- 
general  of  the  enemy's  force,  who  had  found  time  to 
effect  a  lodgement,  and  place  his  cannon,  before  suffi- 
cient troops  could  be  brought  up  to  dispute  the  pos- 
session. 

Here,  however,  the  genius  of  Turenne  at  once  reme- 
died all  difficulties.  Without  ammunition,  and  with 
only  two  hundred  men,  he  kept  possession  of  the  little 
town,  erected  a  barricade  upon  the  bridge,  defended  it 
for  two  hours  against  an  immensely  superior  force, 
and  yielded  not  a  step  till  a  sufficient  reinforcement 
arrived  to  enable  him  to  drive  back  the  enemy  and  blow 
up  the  bridge. 

Although  not  present  at  the  beginning  of  the  affair,  I 
obtained  leave  to  ride  on  before  the  party  destined  to 
support  Monsieur  de  Turenne,  and  brought  him  the  first 
news  of  its  approach  ;  nor  throughout  all  the  scenes  of 
the  kind  that  I  have  witnessed,  did  I  ever  behold  a  man 
who,  in  the  midst  of  danger  and  excitement,  displayed 
such  calm,  unmoved  tranquillity.  He  neither  looked 
vehement,  nor  heated,  nor  anxious,  but,  in  the  midst  of 
the  enemy's  fire,  which  was  tremendous,  listened  to 
my  report  as  if  I  had  been  giving  him  an  invitation  to 
dinner. 

As  soon  as  we  had  secured  our  rear  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  bridge  of  Gergeaux,  we  marched  direct  upon 
Gien,  and  passing  the  Loire  by  the  bridge  at  that  town, 
took  up  a  position  at  the  distance  of  about  fifteen  miles 
from  the  enemy,  in  order  to  ascertain  their  exact  situation 
before  hazarding  any  very  bold  stroke  with  our  inferior 
force.  The  court  established  itself  at  Gien  ;  and  Tu- 
renne fixed  his  head-quarters  at  Briare,  while  the  Mare- 
chal  d'Hocquincourt  took  up  his  at  Blenau.  But  it  was 
now  discovered  that  forage,  which  had  been  scarce 
along  the  whole  line  of  our  march,  was  not  to  be  had  in 


JOHN  MARSTON  HALL.  223 

any  sufficient  quantity,  and  the  cavalry  was  obliged  to 
disperse  in  troops  among  the  villages,  in  a  semicircle 
of  about  twenty  miles  to  the  right,  left,  and  rear,  of  our 
general  position. 

Monsieur  de  Villardin  was  obliged  to  remain  with 
Turenne,  but  he  directed  me  to  post  my  troop  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  park  and  chateau  of  Virmont ;  though, 
as  a  part  of  the  enemy's  advanced  guard  occupied  the 
little  village  of  that  name,  I  could  not  approach  so  near 
as  I  could  wish.  We  found,  however,  upon  inquiry,  that 
our  adversaries  were  behaving  with  much  courtesy  to 
the  people  of  the  country,  and  that  the  chateau  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Villardin  had  as  yet  been  respected  ;  but,  never- 
theless, he  was  extremely  anxious  to  withdraw  his 
daughter  and  household,  if  possible,  from  so  exposed  a 
situation  ;  and  on  taking  my  leave  of  him  i  promised  to 
negotiate  with  the  officers  who  occupied  the  village  in 
order  to  carry  his  wish  into  effect. 

Thus  long  have  I  been  obliged  to  pause  upon  the 
general  history  of  the  times,  which  has  been  much 
better  detailed  by  others ;  and  as  I  am  now  about  to  re- 
turn to  my  private  life  and  personal  adventures,  I  shall 
close  this  chapter  here,  and  begin  my  narration  of  the 
events  which  followed  on  a  fresh  page. 


END    OP   VOL.  I. 


K 


•9 


UNIVERSrTY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  079563166 


aiii 


